Castle in the Air
by Aune Lyra
Summary: Fighting against the Black Wings, standing tall and proud... that's what I thought being a member of the Resistance meant. But I never thought that it also meant I'd be facing so many internal struggles, namely dealing with the voices in my head.
1. THE PROLOGUE: Big Bang

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

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><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**THE PROLOGUE: Big Bang**_

"Where the heck is she? She's late…!" I mutter under my breath, pacing back and forth around the park. If I'm attacked by some mutated flower while I wait, I'm definitely blaming her… ugh. She was supposed to be here half an hour ago!

"She should be here soon, hopefully…" I say to myself as I look up at the blue sky with white clouds adorning it and the sun shining as strong as ever and collapse on the bench near me. I'm almost tempted to get up and run off to somewhere safer, somewhere where I'm less likely to be attacked by some mutated plant or animal.

For nearly all my life, these monsters have been living in my hometown, Edelstein. They were usually found in the park – which was surprisingly big for such a small town like this one – and farther away. Then again, I guess it's because the park is somewhat connected to the woods and the mines.

"I'm here, I'm sorry!" I hear a familiar yell from behind me and I clench my fists before standing up.

"And what were you doing?" I put my hands on my hips and shoot her a glare. I've never been good at glaring, or at least, that's what I think. She puts up her hands in an attempt to calm me down. I'm not that angry, but I would sure like to know why she's taken so long. Plus, looking intimidating is a good way to get an answer out of someone, after all.

"I… slept in," she looks down with an unreadable expression. Is it embarrassment? Either way, she always sleeps in… I sigh. Well, no use crying over spilled milk. And Ayana _does_ look quite exhausted, probably from all that running.

"Oh well. Want to get some ice cream?" I ask casually, brushing off the fact that Ayana was late by about half an hour. Plus, why rub salt on the wound? Or however you say it… either way, she seems to pick on this quickly and nods, giving me a wide smile as we start to walk away from the park.

"Sure thing, Sion!"

"Melanie," I correct her with my middle name. I dislike being called 'Sion', my first name. Ayana already knows this, but sometimes she forgets.

"Sorry," she apologizes.

"It's alright."

"Well, anyway," I hear Ayana start with a light tone in her voice, as if her voice is about to jump out because she's so happy. I turn to my side to see what she's sounding so happy about. "Even if you don't like your first name, you're still my best friend!"

Suddenly I feel an arm wrapping itself around my neck from the side and pulling me over to the side. It's Ayana, of course, giving me a friendly side hug, and I return the hug like any other normal person. It looks like Ayana is being her cheerful, affectionate self like always even though she was late and looked tired.

By this time, we have already made it to the shopping street, where it basically looks more like some fun park than the one I was just at. Thank goodness the shopping street isn't that far away from the park – then again, there's also the fear that some monster might sneak into town and attack. But that's not likely to happen.

"Let's order!" Ayana cheerfully tells me, but I step back a little to allow her to go first since I'm not sure of what to order just yet. She's able to see the message I'm trying to convey to her when I step back, and she nods, stepping forward and looking at the flavours available.

"A strawberry soft serve, please," She tells the man in charge of selling the ice cream. The ice cream man nods and then looks at me. I jump slightly at the sudden stare I get from him, but I'm quickly able to compose myself.

"I'd like a scoop of green tea and mango," I tell him. "Oh, and in a cup, please," I add.

"Is that all?" He asks with a kind smile, and Ayana and I look at each other for a second before turning our heads back to the ice cream man and nodding.

Seconds later, we are now walking around the shopping district and eating our ice cream. This is so yummy…

"Hey, Melanie?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you getting tired of eating the same flavours all the time?" I turn my head and look at Ayana, who is also looking at me curiously. I glance down at my cup of ice cream.

"No," I reply to her question. "Why?"

"You should try new flavours," She looks at her almost finished ice cream cone, and for a second I wonder how she was able to finish up her ice cream so quickly. "Like strawberry!"

"I don't like strawberry…" I mumble, taking a small spoonful of ice cream and stuffing it in my mouth. Ayana looks at me with her eyes wide, but I ignore it, enjoying the taste of the dessert. I think that was a bad idea, though, because five seconds later, I feel a hand roughly slapping my back. The surprise and slight pain I received from the smack almost makes me spit out the ice cream in my mouth, though I'm glad I really didn't spit it out… that would have been gross.

"Hey!" I turn to look at Ayana who is glaring at me. "Why did you do that?"

"How can you _not_ like strawberry?" Oh my goodness, don't tell me she slapped me because of that…

"I just don't!" I narrow my eyes at her. "I'm going to get you back for that!"

"Oh, no you don't!" She tells me with a sly grin, her hazel-coloured eyes carrying a playful light in them. Then, with one bite, she gobbles down the remains of her ice cream cone and breaks off into a run, her white hair bouncing off her shoulders as she does her best to run away as quickly as possible.

"That's cheating! Get back over here!" I scream, my voice cracking a little from almost laughing, and I start to run as soon as I'm able to get another spoon of ice cream in my mouth, holding the cup tightly. We may be fifteen right now, going into sixteen – but we still seem to have a lot of fun pretending that we are ten year olds instead.

"Can't catch me!" I hear a playful laugh from afar.

"It's just because I'm still holding my ice cream cup!"

"Well, you eat too slowly!"

"What was that? I'm going to get you _twice_, now!"

"But you can't even catch me, Melanie! Come on!" She speeds up. Dang it, how am I supposed to catch her now? Maybe I should finish my ice cream first…

Deciding to stop running and finishing up my dessert first, I stick out my tongue at the still running Ayana and start to eat the ice cream as fast as I can. Better catch up, after all – but I can tell I will have to look around for her first, since she hasn't stopped running.

After quickly golfing down my ice cream, I flinch, a shiver going up my spine. Stupid brain freezes…

"Now, time to get going," I mutter under my breath after shaking off the brain freeze and throwing away the empty cup in my hand. "Where could she have run off to…?"

I take a deep breath and start to run. I hate running, but if I want to find Ayana faster, I'll have to be faster myself as well. I hope I don't sweat too much; I'm wearing a new dress, so it'd be pretty sad for me to get it drenched in sweat.

Where could Ayana have gone? Like me, she is quite girly too, so maybe she could be hanging around the shops in this shopping district. Well, I'm there right now, so might as well check it out.

I sigh. Oh, how I wish I could grab one of those small patrol robots flying everywhere, recording every move of every citizen. That way, I could see where that girl is running off to and find her right away.

Ah, well. Enough sulking for me – let the search begin…

… … … .. .. ….. …. … … …. …. … .. . . . .. .

I drop down on the grass, panting. Thirty minutes. I took thirty minutes looking for Ayana – and I still can't find her! What's up with that? She was always good at hiding back when we played hide and seek in the orphanage, but this has gone too far!

I've checked the shopping district (too big and distracting), at the park (it was scary…), by her house, and I've asked some people around town like Belle the policewoman, Checky the guy dressed up in a bear suit(how does he manage to stay inside that suit for so long and not complain about it?) and some friends. None of them saw Ayana around.

I remain seated in the grass, staring off into space and trying to think of where Ayana is at while tying up my mid-length blond hair into a ponytail. I should resume my search soon…

**[[[[[[[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ [[[ ]]]] ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]]]]]]**

"…Eh?" I suddenly start to look around aimlessly before my mind registers that familiar sound. It's a loud bell, coming from the mansion at the center this town. The council president, Anthony, lives in the mansion as far as I know. I've never known much about the government and whatnot, so I can't be too sure. However, I do know that when this bell is rung, that it's because the council has something to announce.

Getting up from the grass, I look around again for a little bit to see which way I have to go to get to the mansion, and after a minute, I start to walk.

Turning on corners, crossing the streets and passing by houses and shops, I eventually arrive to the mansion. There's many people gathered around it, and one of the many people I see looks very familiar…

"Ayana!" I yell out in between the chatting and whispering going on between everyone right now. I gather my breath to call out to her again, but I notice that it's not necessary since she has just turned to look at me.

"Melanie!" She looks a bit surprised, but she runs and makes her way to me. "You're here!"

I snort. "Of course I am! Where were you, anyways?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," she smiles. And suddenly, I am overtaken by a feeling of curiosity about why the president summoned all of us here – so I wave off what she just told me and ask her a question.

"So, what is going on?"

"The president has something to tell us…"

"Is he finally going to retire?" I ask hopefully. Nearly all my life, this town has been a bit depressing due to the fact that they live in fear of the Black Wings, the people who have control over our town. So if council president Anthony were to leave…

"I don't know," Ayana shakes her head. "Nobody knows."

"Well, I hope he does leave…" I mumble, and Ayana looks at me worriedly for a second. It's probably because everyone here is expected to respect all members of the Black Wings, but I can't help it.

"This place is so crowded…" She looks around, nervousness evident in her eyes.

"It'll be alright… hopefully," I say the last part of that sentence hesitantly. When it comes to the Black Wings, it's really hard to tell whether it will be alright or not.

I open my mouth to say talk some more, but before I'm able to say anything, I'm interrupted by a loud thumping sound coming from the mansion. Ayana and I look up.

"Quiet!" A voice that sounds quite tacky. It is none other than President Anthony, who had bumped the microphone with his hand to cause the thumping sound. Everyone quickly shuts up and looks up at him.

As always, President Anthony isn't alone. He never was each time he made an announcement, anyway. There are the people that were next to him all the previous times he made an announcement: Watchman Bavan, Leonore, Wonny and other members of the Black Wings that lurk around our town. But amidst the familiar faces, there are also some unfamiliar ones. Two unfamiliar faces, to be exact.

To the right of the president is a woman who seems to be in her mid thirties or forties. She has tanned skin, silver hair that stops above her shoulders and her purple lips are curved in a frightening smile. I want to know how her eyes look like, but the big, purple hood on her head covers them. The rest of her clothing is purple as well, decorated by purple trimming and embroidery. I would've said she looks cool, if not for the scary aura she gives out by just looking at her.

The man standing to the left of the president looks worse, however. He appears to be scarier than the woman herself. The woman already reminds me of those witches I see in those T.V shows… and this man here just looks like some cursed entity. The president has already started talking, but I find myself unable to hear, distracted by the frightening features of the old man.

I'm not exaggerating about the man's features. Compared to the woman, the man has skin that is pale enough to be called unhealthy. His face is marred with wrinkles, his mouth covered by a long white beard, and his dark eyes that surprisingly stood out the most could be described as looking similar to cat-like slits. His hair is pure white and long like Ayana's. To contrast his pale figure, he wore black robes with gold trimming, holding a skull on his left hand and a long, pointy staff on his right hand.

I blink, snapping back to reality and shivering unconsciously at the sight of these people, and suddenly I start feeling a bit sick with anticipation, feeling as if something bad is going to happen very soon. Shaking my head vigorously for a few seconds, I find myself being able to hear the president talk.

"And so, with our goal being a success…" The president pauses, a sly smirk forming on his face. "Bow down, citizens of Edelstein!"

Bow down? What does he mean? Before I know it, the president steps away, and the two people next to him step forward, positioning themselves so that the woman is at the front and the man is at the back. Then, I see their mouths start moving and chanting something in a language I can't understand.

A bright, shining circle that looks very similar to those magic ones I've heard of appear at the bottom of their feet, and just by looking at that I come to an understanding of what is going on: They are casting a spell.

"A new leader has come," The president continues, his smile never fading as he looks at the giant, black snake that appears behind the man. The woman speaks some more gibberish, and then suddenly is launched into the air, floating in front of the man. Everyone gasps at this. "One as powerful enough to change the world as we know it…"

The sky starts to turn darker, and everyone looks around with a horrified look on their faces. A powerful blast of energy is seen being formed in between the outstretched arms of the woman, and a red aura is seen glowing around the man.

"To riddle the land with dungeons filled with intelligent monsters," At this point, everyone is ignoring what the president is saying, and anxiously whispering to each other as to what is going on. I turn to look at Ayana, who seems to be paralyzed in fear. I open my mouth to say something, but find out that even _I_ can't speak.

The ball of energy becomes bigger and it expands, letting out a piercing screech, forcing everyone to cover their ears in pain.

"What… what is going on?" I scream, my eyes squeezed shut.

"I-I don't know!" Ayana sounds just as scared as I am.

"He is the Black Mage!" We all turn to the president who has an insane smile on his face. The ball of energy floats into the sky and breaks, causing a giant explosion, and suddenly, I start to feel a gentle shake coming from the ground and I look around desperately, trying to register what is going on.

"An earthquake!" Someone in the crowd screams in a terrified voice. Everyone starts to scream and run as the gentle shake goes from barely perceptible to draconian.

"M-Melanie…!" I feel a frightened Ayana grab my wrist. "I'm scared! We have to get out of here!"

"I-I…" I can't speak. I'm scared. What's going on? Who is the Black Mage? When will the earthquake stop?

"Come on!" She roughly pulls me away and before I know it I'm running around to who knows where with Ayana, the president's voice clear in our heads.

"He will ensnare this land in darkness," Ayana and I scream and jump back as a piece of rubble falls right in front of us, and we turn to the other way to keep running. "And crush all who dare to defy him…"

I step on a pebble and trip, falling forward. My hand slips from Ayana's grasp, and she skids to a halt after taking a few forced steps, turning to look at me.

"Melanie! Watch out!" She screams, sounding completely horrified and I look up, my eyes widening at the sight of another piece of rubble getting closer to my face. I desperately try to get up, however, my now wounded knee pulls me back down and I feel something hard and solid roughly slamming into my head.

And before everything goes black for me, I see a giant and dark hooded figure looming in the cloud covered sky, his eyes looking like they were flames themselves.

"Say farewell to your precious world," the familiar haunted voice speaks. "For a new story is about to be written!"

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Well, that's just about it for the prologue. I've actually been working on this for a while now, but I was too lazy (and busy) to continue it. So here it is, the prologue of my first posted story: Castle in the Air.

I'd like to ask for as much criticism as possible on this story, so if you're able to stop and critique, I'd really appreciate that. Also, for what Anthony was saying, I took the quotes out of one of the Big Bang trailers… so if I wrote anything incorrectly, please let me know as well.

**EDIT 1:** Fixed some mistakes that were pointed out to the best of my ability.  
><strong>EDIT 2: <strong>So, I finally got around to re-reading the prologue and catching some other mistakes. Goodness, did I really make that many mistakes when it came to switching from present tense to past tense? Anyway, I also did what I could to make some awkward sentences and events flow in a nicer way, so hopefully this looks better than before (and is also hopefully my last edit on this, but if anyone catches more mistakes, I'll be more than glad to look over it and change it).


	2. You're it!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

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><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 1: You're it!**_

"Alright, I'm heading there now. But don't be surprised if I don't get there in at least 20 minutes. After all, I do have to be extra careful…" I warn Ayana, whom I am chatting with through the cellphone.

"_Okay, then that's what I'll tell Kylie,_" Ayana says, her voice sounding slightly different because of the phone.

"Thanks. You know how impatient she is," I sigh. "But why we are doing this in the first place?"

"_Because! Well, Kylie said so. Plus, we've never really been at the mines before now have we?"_

"I fail to see what the point of that is."

"_Oh come on! Don't be such a party pooper – I'm sure you'll have fun too!"_

"Um, you do realize we're not allowed into the mines right? Unless we're part of _them_, no one is allowed in," I try to remind Ayana, referring to the Black Wings as 'them'.

"_But it's not bad to have some fun once in a while right?"_

"Fun is good, I agree, but do we have to have fun in such a dangerous way?"

"_It won't be that dangerous!"_ I suddenly hear a different but familiar voice. By the looks of it, Kylie snatched the phone from Ayana.

"How do you know?"

"_Because it's Sunday! There's not many of them around the mines on Sundays, so why not take advantage of it?"_

Honestly, I'm still a bit hesitant about this. But what can I do? I've already agreed to meet Kylie and Ayana at the mines, so it'd be only polite to go meet them there.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll be going there now, so let's hang up for now," I tell Kylie, and right after a few seconds of silence I can tell that she's smiling.

"_Geez, that Kylie! She should know better than to snatch someone's phone like that!"_ Ayana's on the line once again, complaining about Kylie.

"Well, see you there, you guys," I hang up before they are able to say anything. I should get there as soon as I can. The sooner the better.

Before heading to the mines, I look around, making sure that the _someone_ I don't want to see isn't here or close by. After a minute or two of not seeing _her_, I let out a small relieved sigh and start to make my way to the mines.

_**gOiNg SoMeWhErE?**_

"Oh…" I recognize that chilly, sickeningly sweet voice coming from behind me. My head starts to spin and it gets slightly harder to breathe. I slowly turn around.

_**bOo!**_

I let out a scream and jump back as I see bright red eyes looking into mine right after I turned around. It didn't help that her skin was so pale that it was nearly a light shade of blue and that she had a twisted look on her face, either.

_**AhAhAhA! yOu sHoUlD hAvE sEeN yOuR fAcE! yOu ArE sO PATHETIC!**_

I start to feel nauseous, hearing her voice echo in my head. I see some people pass by me, looking at me like I'm strange and not doing anything about it. Why? Can't they see there's some freaky girl who looks like a zombie talking to me? I'm even flailing my arms desperately!

"Go away…" I bite out after stopping my flailing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not usually like this. But ever since that earthquake, the Big Bang, this girl has been following me around and harassing me. At least she doesn't appear often…

_**dOn'T tElL mE wHaT tO dO! **_

Suddenly she lurches forward, her hand raised. I step back a bit on instinct, but it looks like I'm too late, because after a few seconds I feel something sharp scraping against my arm for a bit and I yelp in pain, looking down at the spot where it hurts.

My arm isn't scraped that badly, but it does have a little bit of blood on it. I look up at the girl, her smile wicked and her disheveled red hair swaying with the wind. She's holding up her fingers, which have very sharp nails. I stare into her eyes, suddenly feeling very frightened.

"Leave me alone!" I scream at her, backing away.

_**Or ElSe WhAt? YoU cAn'T eVeN tOuCh Me! **_

"I can! I will hurt you if you keep doing this!" I try to look as intimidating as possible while giving her this warning, but it looks like she was able to tell that this is an empty threat because her grin just becomes wider.

_**ShUt Up, FoR gOoDnEsS' sAkE! yOu ArE sO pAtHeTiC! **_

I cringe slightly at her insults, and then suddenly realize that I'm going to be late for my meeting with Ayana and Kylie. Keeping that in mind while telling myself that I have to get out of there before she hurts me even more, I turn on my heel and start to run toward the mines. However, I keep hearing her talking to me, even though she's not even close by. Why?

… .. . . . …. … … . . .. … …. …. . . . . … . . .

"Melanie, you're late!" Kylie stomps her foot, frowning at me.

"I'm… sorry…" I say in between breaths. I've been running as fast as I could from _her,_ and forced myself to slow down a bit once I was close to the mines. "But at least I'm here, right?"

"Right!" Ayana beams, walking toward me with a boy around my age who has light blond hair and brown eyes.

"N-Nolan?" I can feel my eyes widening.

"Um, hey," We look away awkwardly. Nolan, like Ayana, Kylie and Khalid – a friend who left Edelstein 2 years ago – was one of my childhood friends. I've known Ayana and Khalid for longer, however.

"So… why are you here?" I force out a question, feeling my face heat up a little bit.

"Kylie invited me," He replies without looking at me. Well this _isn't_ awkward…

"I… see…" I trail off.

"Hey, hey now! We're all here now, right? So why not play something?" Kylie says cheerfully. I try not to glare at her.

"But what could we play?" Ayana looks like she's in deep thought.

"Wait a second. Before we get into ideas for a game, does someone have a tissue or anything?" I ask them, looking at my injured arm.

"Tissue? What for?" Can't they see the wound in my arm?

"Look," I show them my arm. "It's bleeding a bit."

They look at me like I'm crazy. "We don't see anything, Melanie," Ayana looks very confused.

"Yeah, I see nothing," Nolan says, and Kylie agrees too after a bit.

"What?" I look at them incredulously. "The wound is right here!" I say, pointing at it, but they simply exchange confused glances.

"No, seriously Melanie, there's nothing on your arm," Kylie looks at me worriedly. "Are you sick?"

"What? No! If I was sick, I wouldn't have come here. I just got a little injury here in my arm," I respond, looking at it. Ayana, Kylie and Nolan simply exchange confused glances.

"Well… okay," Nolan sighs. I probably just made myself look like a loser in front of him, but how can they not see this scratch on my arm?

"Here," Ayana hands me a tissue that she got out from her pocket. I wipe some of the blood off of my arm, and as I do that, the three of them look at me like I'm doing something strange.

Soon enough, the four of us are lying down on the ground, looking up at the blue sky. Nolan is sharing things he did when he was a childhood, Ayana, Kylie and me listening carefully. Then they started switching turns – Ayana spoke of her life in the orphanage, where she met me, and what she did when she was adopted by a kind man named Gelimer 4 years ago. Kylie, whom I consider the lucky one, wasn't an orphan like me, Ayana and Nolan, so all her childhood memories included her parents.

"What about you, Melanie?" Kylie turns and asks me. I close my eyes, pondering for a second.

"I don't know," I sigh, opening my eyes.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Ayana asks me.

"We met each other in the orphanage when we were 10, remember? That's when I was brought in," I tell her.

"What does that have to do with you not knowing?" Nolan gives me a questioning look.

"I don't remember anything from before I was brought to the orphanage," I explain to them. "Nothing."

An uncomfortable silent follows.

"I'm sorry," Ayana speaks up. "I didn't know."

"It's fine," I open my mouth to say some more, but I decide not to.

Suddenly, Kylie jumps up. "Okay, enough!"

"Eh?" I sit up.

"Let's do something! Sitting here and talking all day doesn't sound so fun if you ask me," Kylie smiles, and we all stand up.

"Then, what do we play?" I tilt my head slightly.

"How about hide and seek?" Ayana suggests. I shrug, not sure of what game I want to play.

"Sure," Nolan nods. Kylie decides to go with it too, and suddenly I decide that I don't want to be it.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

I yelled out 'not it' as soon as they announced that we were going to play hide and seek. Then Nolan and Ayana followed, Kylie saying 'not it' last. Too bad for her, though, because since she said it last, it means she's it anyway.

"You're it!" I point my finger at Kylie, grinning.

"Dang it! Well, I'm counting to twenty only then! Whoever I find has to help me find the rest of the people – now go go go!" She turns around, covers her eyes and immediately starts counting. Ayana, Nolan and I let out a startled 'eep!' before quickly running off to find a hiding spot.

I look around, trying to find a place to hide. Then, I spot a potential place where I could be hiding at: a cave with a tree right next to it. I run towards that spot.

I don't plan on going inside of the cave, since it looks dark and scary, and my gut seems to be telling me not to go in. But there is a tree right next to it, and it's big enough for me to hide behind it. I quickly scurry behind the tree and let out a relieved sigh.

Placing my head on my arms, which are wrapped around my knees, I start to think. The conversation I had with my friends a few minutes ago, about their childhood, made me feel kind of jealous. And the fact that they remembered many details of their life before they were 10 – unlike me, who couldn't remember a single thing, didn't help, either.

Well, now that I think about it, not exactly. There were times in which I thought I could remember, like the very thought of it was at the tip of my tongue – but then I forgot again.

_**..:.E.:..:..:x..:P...**_

And man, what is going on behind that cave? I know some monsters might live in that cave, but I don't think they make _that_ much noise, now do they?

_**..:..:..:...:..M:..eN:..:t…**_

…Okay now this is getting strange. What the heck is going on in there?

…_**:...:..:..:..h:..:.a.:..:...:..:..:..HAHAHAHAH:..:..:…**_

I jump at the sudden laughter I hear, looking around desperately. What was that?

_**hahahahahHaHaHaHaHAHAH…**_

The air around me suddenly starts to feel warm. My head spins and everything around me starts to look distorted.

_**ExPeRiMeNt…**_

"Ah…" I gasp, suddenly feeling my breathing get cut off. Why can't I _breathe_? What is _happening_? Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Calm down, calm down…

_**SoMeBoDy SaVe Me IaMtRaPpEd…**_

"Ghgg… gah…" I'm being suffocated. The space around me is small… small… small small small _too small!_

_**WhY wOn'T yOu SAVEME?**_

"S..Stop!" I yell in between gasps, sweating and my breaths are quick and ragged.

"Found ya, Melanie!" I let out a terrified scream, collapsing onto the ground from my side. The voice is familiar but I can't tell who it is. The sky is purple and the clouds are red.

My fists tighten and I dig my nails into my palms as hard as I can. I _can't_ feel anything. But I _want_ to feel. I _can't_ move. But I _want_ to move… I _can't_ breathe. But. I. _Want. To. __**Breathe! **_Let me out… let me out let me out let me out, _let. me. __**OUT!**_

"Melanie? Hey, snap out of it! Melanie!" Another familiar voice that I can't recognize.

"Sion, are you alright?" This voice I hear is also familiar but more masculine. I also cannot recognize it.

"Melanie!" I feel something _cold_ grabbing me by the arms and shaking me. Then, everything goes white for a few seconds.

…

…

"Melanie!"

"Gah…!" My eyes snap wide open, and I can suddenly breathe again. The sky isn't purple and the clouds are white. I can feel the back of my dress soaked with sweat, and it feels disgusting.

"Oh my goodness… good, you're back with us," Kylie, who is still grabbing me by the arms, looks at me with a slightly relieved look on her face.

"Melanie, are you okay?" Ayana looks at me worriedly. Nolan doesn't say anything, and looks at me as if he was frightened. I don't blame him. What just happened to me – what I just experienced, was very, very scary too.

"I'm… fine," I sigh. "I'm okay, it's all good now."

"Are you sure?" Nolan steps up, facing me.

"I'm fine, really," I try to reassure them, taking Kylie's arms and pulling them off of me. As soon as I try to stand up, my legs start to feel like jelly but I quickly grab onto the trunk of the tree before they can notice anything.

"If you're tired, we can go home you know," Ayana puts her hand on my shoulder and I shake my head. I don't want to ruin their fun, and plus, we've only been here for about half an hour. That's not enough.

"I said I'm good now. So, who was found first?" I ask, trying to change the topic.

"Okay, fine," Kylie sighs. "But if we get another one of those… seizures… from you, we're going home!"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" I put up my hands.

"Good," Nolan smiles at me. "I'm it. So get ready!"

…. . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . … .. . .. . . … .. . …

After I 'recovered' from that outburst, me four of us kept playing hide and seek. Thankfully, I didn't get any of those attacks after the first one, which was a good thing.

"Melanie, you're it now!" Kylie teases me like I did a while ago when she had to be it.

"Shoot… I hate being it," I mutter. "Well, go hide! And unlike _someone_ here, I'll count up to a hundred rather than twenty seconds!"

"Hey!" Kylie steps forward. "What is that supposed to mean?"

I grin, turning around and covering my eyes. "One!"

"Kylie, you shouldn't have done that!" Ayana panics for a bit, and then I start to hear quick footsteps, which told me that they were now running.

"That's no fair, _Sion_!" Kylie runs off as she says this. I stop counting for a second.

"_Melanie_!" I correct her before going back to counting.

After cheating a tiny bit and counting faster, I got to a hundred. "Ready or not, here I come!"

I take my hands off of my eyes, looking around. I try to avoid looking at the cave, the place I hid at when Kylie was it. Avoiding that place for now is best.

As I start to make my way somewhere else, I feel a chill run down my spine, forcing me to stop and shiver slightly.

_**wRoNg WaY…**_

"W-What…? Who… who's there?" I squeak out. There's nobody here, and my friends are hiding. So who's talking?

_**gO tO tHe CaVe…**_

The cave? What for? I start to feel nauseous and for a second I'm afraid that I'll be suffocated again after some time, so I squeeze my eyes shut for a minute. Two minutes. Three.

Nothing happens. I slowly open my eyes.

_**Go To ThE cAvE…**_

I whip my head around to look at the cave. I take a few steps forward, stopping.

_**yOu WiLl FiNd WhAt YoU aRe SeEkInG…**_

Find what I am seeking… my friends? And then, just now, I realize that this voice is mine and that it is echoing in my head.

_**gO iN…**_

Go… in. I take a few breaths. Go in… because I will what I'm seeking inside that cave. Is this… what I want?

_**yOu Do. YoU wAnT tO. YOUWANTTOGOIN. IWANTTOGOIN.**_

I… want to go in. I want to go in. I want to go in. I'll find what I'm looking for there. Yes, I should go in.

I turn on my heel and start to walk toward the cave. Once I'm there, I take a deep breath and step into the darkness. Of course, I can't see anything. But I see a light at the end of it, so I start to make my way there. I never thought that one of my friends could be hiding in there. But then again, they might not be.

My eyes eventually get adjusted to the dark as I keep walking. Bad timing, I suppose, since I'm very close to arriving at the end of this cave. And then, once I reach it, I close my eyes, opening them again once I'm sure I went through the cave.

What I see right in front of me is not what I expected.

The air in here is warm, but not warm enough to make me feel sick. There is a weird stench in this cave that could make me vomit if it was stronger. It looks like I'm inside the mines, and for some odd reason, it looks strangely familiar, even though I've never really been inside the mines before. However, that's not what is making me feel disgusted right now.

It's the fact that inside these mines, there are many people of different ages, stuck inside these glass tanks filled with what seems to be water. They are all wearing a piece of clothing that resembles a white hospital gown, tubes stuck inside them. And is one of them growing a tentacle?

I stumble back a little bit, placing my hand on my mouth. Now that I'm completely aware of my surroundings, that I'm actually inside a laboratory, I'm starting to feel a little sick to the stomach. I start to shift uncomfortably, trying to think of what to do now.

"Stay back!" I immediately jump at the voice.

"W-What was that?" I start to look up and down, left and right.

"This place is prohibited! How did you get in here?"

"Who's talking?" This is really starting to scare me. "Show yourself, wherever you are!"

"Look up," I do as the voice says, and gasp. I thought all the people trapped inside these tanks had their eyes closed, but there's actually one of them with their eyes open, looking and talking to me.

"You… what are you doing up there?" I ask in a daze. The person who talked to me is a girl who looks a few years younger than me – maybe 1 or 2? She has light green hair and olive-green eyes.

"Y-You don't know? You're inside Doctor Gelimer's Lab! You have get out of here before they see you!"

"But… what about you?" I look at her, suddenly feeling terrified. If they see me, what would happen?

"You'll be experimented on like me if you don't leave! So go!" After she says this, I notice that her voice has a strange tone to it. I'll assume it's because she's trapped inside a tank right now.

"E-Experimented on? But… but these people here look human!" When conducting experiments, don't people usually do it on an animal, a monster or anything like that?

"They _are_ human…" She says in a quiet voice. Well, now _this_ is messed up.

"You're… kidding, right?"

"I'm not! Get out of ––! Ah, no! They're here!" Her voice is barely a whisper, and she looks terrified. She quickly shuts up after hearing a few footsteps, and I just keep turning, trying to find a place to hide at. Obviously there aren't many hiding places inside this cave, but then my eye spots something I could use to hide with: a black and yellow traffic barrier. I quickly scurry away to where it is.

And just then, 2 people step into the laboratory.

One of these people is using black. He's wearing an eyepatch with a white skull on it, his seemingly long black hair combed back slightly. The other one, on the other hand, is not wearing black clothing, but he is wearing a lab coat. His white hair is parted, and the hair that is on the center is pulled up into an strange looking pony-tail. As for his eyes, they are quite hard to see since he's wearing brown horn-rimmed glasses. There is a small, brown teddy bear inside one of the pockets of his lab coats.

…

Wait. That teddy bear… looks very, very familiar. I continue to stare at it, trying to see why it looks so familiar. And then, something in my mind clicks.

* * *

><p>"<em>Do you think he'll like it, Melanie?" Ayana looked down at the small bear in her hands.<em>

"_I'm sure he'll like it, Aya!" I reassure her. "You worked so hard on it, I'm sure he'll appreciate it." _

"_Right!" She brightens up. "Then I'll go give this to him right now."_

"_See ya, then," I smile at her as she makes her way to her dad. He looked like he could be old enough to be her grandfather, but that shouldn't matter much. _

"_Daddy! Happy father's day!" I watch as she hands him the teddy bear. A giant smile spreads on his face._

"_Wow! Did you make this, Ayana?" _

"_Yeah, I did!" Ayana puffs out her chest proudly. _

"_Well, you did very good on it," He gives her a kind smile and pulls her into a hug. "Thank you."_

* * *

><p>I understood now. There's no wonder that the name Gelimer sounded so familiar, and that this old man here also looked familiar to me. This guy… Gelimer, is Ayana's dad, who joined the Black Wings shortly after the Big Bang happened. Ayana was so devastated that day, because she knew she wouldn't see him as often anymore.<p>

"My, my. This is going better than I expected," Gelimer speaks in a crooked voice. This is definitely him – his voice is exactly the same.

"You do indeed have great knowledge and foresight on these kinds of things," The other man agrees as he straightens up one of the many guns strapped to the belt on his pants.

"The android is almost done," Gelimer informs him. "It should be of good use after a few days."

"Ahh, I see… this is amazing," The man in black speaks with a light tone in his voice.

"Making my wildest dreams come true… I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do this," Gelimer's face twists into a sick grin. "I knew I'd never regret joining the Black Wings…"

This is starting to get scary. I want to get out of here as soon as possible, but I know that if I move, that if I make a single sound, that I will be caught immediately.

_**-/-/-**_

…Well, this is just great. I just stepped on a small branch by accident. Talk about great timing. I shrink down slightly and try to prevent myself from trembling when I hear them acknowledge the sound I made.

"Did you hear that?" It's the same crooked voice.

"We could go check," My heart starts to rapidly beat. Please, don't come this way…

…_**^[]^[]^[]^…**_

Suddenly, there's a small blackout. The lights in the laboratory flash on and off for a few seconds. I peek through the barrier I'm hiding behind and see that both that man and Gelimer look very pissed.

"What was that?" The man in black takes out one of his guns and I flinch at the sight of it.

"Those _fools!_ I thought I told them not to do anything with the power…!" Gelimer yells in a frightening voice. "Come; we will take a look outside."

The two of them turn and leave, and once I hear the sound of their footsteps fading, I slump my shoulders in relief, sighing.

"Now's your chance! Leave!" The girl warns as soon as I stand up. And then, once I turn around and get ready to walk out of the cave, I see her slowly close her eyes as if she's relieved – but at the same time, it looked like she had… given up. Given up on something… was it hope?

And then, as I take a few more seconds staring at her, I realize something. Did she… want me to help her? To save her?

* * *

><p>"<em>Wow! That was so cool!" Ayana jumps up from her seat, making those super hero positions.<em>

"_I know! I want to be just like her!" I agree._

"_Then let's be heroes too!"_

"_But… how?" I tilt my head in confusion. We don't have any powers._

"_Let's just help everyone we can – and then people will start seeing us as heroes! Or well, close to that."_

"…_Really?"_

"_Yes!" She nods, smiling. "So let's do that!"_

_I smile back. "…Okay."_

* * *

><p>This girl here looks like she's been through so much. If I walk out of here, I can save myself from being caught by the Black Wings. But if I could take a chance and try to free this girl, I could be saving someone else besides myself, too.<p>

Closing my eyes, I try to imagine myself in her spot for a few seconds, hoping that it will help me make up my mind. How long had she been in here, being put through so many experiments and thinking that maybe, just _maybe_ there would be someone to free her from this prison?

"What are you waiting for?" The girl yells in a desperate voice. It looks like she noticed me still standing there. I let out a breath before opening my eyes, taking a metal rod on the ground and walking towards the tank where the girl is at. "What… what are you doing?"

"I'll get you out of there," I tell her before swinging the metal rod and smashing the glass into pieces. The sound of the shattering glass echoes in my ears, and the girl falls onto the ground.

"The glass… broke?" She speaks in a dazed voice as I step back a bit in a panic. Just then, I hear quick footsteps from the other side of the cave, and I quickly realize that they must've heard.

"There's nothing stopping you from leaving now, is there?" I say in a haste, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up and running out of the laboratory and into the dark cave. "So let's go!"

"You brats! Get back here!" Uh oh. They must've seen. I just keep running faster.

"…Wait! But… but I'm not supposed to leave!" The girl slows down a little bit, and I start to get a bit frustrated. I ignore it, though, and just keep running.

"Forget about me and just go!" She tries to free herself from my grip.

"Are you saying you _want_ to stay here?" I tighten my grip on her wrist, and I hear her gasp.

"What? Of course not!" I smile a bit in satisfaction once I feel her speed up.

Once we're out of the cave, I see that the sky is now orange. Did that much time pass?

"It has been so long…" The green haired girl says in amazement. "So long since I've been able to see the sunlight again…"

"This way!" I tell her once I'm aware of where we should be going. I start to run again, but I quickly stop once I see the person in front of us.

"Did you really think you could escape?" It's the man in black. How did he manage to catch up to us so quickly? I step in front of the girl and raise my arms in a probably lame attempt at trying to shield her from whatever this man will do.

I know that there's nothing I can do right now. That maybe this girl and I here will get hurt. I'm scared, but she's probably even more scared, having been inside that laboratory for who knows how long.

"Hmm…" The man isn't doing anything right now, looking me up and down. "You'd make a great experiment, you know," he says with a sly grin.

"Oh… really? Well, you'll have to catch us first!" I quickly take the girl by her wrist and turn around to start running, my heart beating fast from the pressure of this moment. This was the only option we had: to run.

"You can't hide, even if you keep running!" And then, I hear a loud bang. Seconds later, I'm kneeling on the ground, doubled up and in a lot of pain.

"Ggh…" I gingerly touch my shoulder where the searing pain is at and feel a warm liquid spreading through my hand. It's my blood. This man shot me while I was running. I look up and meet the green eyes of the girl, who is looking completely terrified.

"I told you," I hear that same annoying voice from before getting closer. "You can't run."

I squeeze my eyes shut, ready to give up. I'm in so much pain that if I kept running I'd probably drop down on the ground. I guess I couldn't be a hero this time.

"Stop right there!" I gasp and look up at the sky. There's a helicopter there with a ladder, a man hanging from it and one of his hands outstretched towards me.

"Take my hand!" He yells out desperately and I turn to look at the girl again.

"Go," I tell her, trying to compose myself. She doesn't speak back and simply turns, hesitantly grabbing the man's hand and I quickly stand up after that despite my right shoulder screaming in pain. Using my left hand, I grab the man's arm and then put one foot on the ladder.

"Speed up!" The blond haired man yells to whoever is piloting the helicopter, and I am forced to tighten my grip on his arm, slowly lifting my other arm with the injured shoulder and grabbing the ladder to prevent myself from falling.

… … . … . . … . .. . . .. .. . . . . ..

"Alright, it looks like we're safe here," The blond man sighs in relief. We're still in the mines, but at a different spot.

"W-What was that…?" I ask the man quietly, still a bit confused about everything that just happened.

"You saw the real Black Wings, kiddo," He gives me a kind smile, patting my head. "I'm glad we got there on time, or Schiller could have killed you!" So that man's name is Schiller?

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"Me? You can call me J," He replies and looks down at my wound. "Come on. We should get that patched up."

"…It's my fault," The girl speaks up after a while, looking like she wants to cry.

"It's alright," J shakes his head. "Now let's go, both of you."

With no other option left, the girl and I follow J into the helicopter. I'm still a bit reluctant about it, but if he wanted to trick us, I don't think he would've gone through that much trouble of pretending to save us.

The rest of the day went by like a blur. J decided to drop me off at the spot that was the closest to town, so now I'm walking through a small forest. I kick a pebble as I walk, thinking of what had happened not too long ago.

A kind woman who went by the name Wendelline bandaged up my wound after we followed J into that helicopter. It still hurt a little bit, but they used some healing medicine on it so that it'd heal somewhat faster.

Then J came in with the girl, who introduced herself as Vita. I was asked a few questions about myself – I wasn't sure why, though, so now that I look back on it, maybe it wasn't that good of an idea to give him some of my information. I furrowed my eyebrows, frowning at the ground. It was still hard to believe that something like this had happened on a day that seemed so… normal.

With that in mind, I stop walking and look up at the sky, closing my eyes and remembering everything that happened today – from meeting my friends at the mines to being saved by J – just so that I can make myself believe that what happened isn't a dream. This is the only way I can cope with something so shocking: admitting that it happened. That I did indeed sneak into the mines, that I saved someone's life, that I was shot, that I was saved by a mysterious man…

That because of that, my life may never be the same again.

* * *

><p>"<em>What's your name?" J asks me with a smile. <em>

"_I'm… Sion Melanie," I reply hesitantly. "Sion Skieros."_

"_Sion… Skieros…" He mutters to himself, looking at me with wide eyes. Why is this?_

"_Is there something wrong?" _

"_A-Ah, no, of course not. Don't worry," he tries to reassure me, but is failing. _

"_Alright…" I trail off, but then suddenly a question pops up in my mind. "Wait."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Why did you help me?"_

"…_Oh," he scratches his head. "Well… it's kind of complicated. Say, Sion," he starts, but I interrupt him._

"_Melanie," I correct him. He looks at me for a second with a confused expression; but that expression soon vanishes._

"_Right," He continues. "Say, Melanie; have you heard of the Resistance?"_

_The Resistance? "No," I tell him. "Never."_

"_Good," He looks slightly relieved. "You shouldn't be, anyway. You're not supposed to."_

"_What does that have to do with anything?"_

"_Ah, right…" J uncomfortably scratches his head again, and Vita looks at him in wonder. "Alright, I guess I'll tell you, since you already got tangled up in all of this. But promise not to tell anyone."_

"_Well… okay," I respond, looking at him in the eyes. _

"_I'm a proud member of the Resistance," he starts to explain. "A secret organization. We're working on chasing away the Black Wings. That's our main goal."_

* * *

><p>I angrily kick another pebble nearby, suddenly feeling a bit of hatred at myself for getting involved in something so dangerous and then keep walking. A normal citizen standing up to the Black Wings could mean imprisonment – and maybe, like Vita, experimentation.<p>

Members of the Resistance lived their lives standing against them every day. If they were found – imagine what could happen. I've heard of the Black Wings killing people before; but it never happened in our town. And I don't want that to happen either. If they were to start executing people…

I involuntarily shiver at the thought of it. President Anthony announced the Big Bang, the giant earthquake that hit our town about half a year ago and badly injured some people – me included. So it wouldn't be surprising at all if he decided to announce someone's execution.

But that's not the point. Since being part of the Resistance is so dangerous, it also made it dangerous for me, who got involved with the Resistance somehow even though I'm not one of their members. I hate this.

I've reached the town. And as soon as I step my foot into it, I see three people running around before seeing me, panicked looks in their faces as they make their way to me; and I suddenly remember what I had forgotten about: my friends.

I was it in hide and seek, but because of all this mess, I never really did get around to finding them. I clench my fists. I knew I was tired from all that happened, but I've never felt more tired than now. I'm just… tired. Physically and mentally. And because of that, I refuse to deal with their questions.

Putting my head down, I start to walk to the right side and I soon start to run as fast as I can once I feel my friends getting closer. I just can't deal with this right now. I know I'll have to deal with it tomorrow, but right now… I just can't, and don't care.

"Melanie!"

"Mel!"

"Hey, wait!"

I squeeze my eyes shut as I keep running despite the pain on my legs from all the other running I had to do before.

Once I lose track of them, I quickly enter the orphanage, running up the stairs and into my room, shutting the door and locking it. I throw myself on my bed, pulling the pillow over my head to block out the desperate cries from my friends who had somehow managed to catch me a little too late.

Looks like I'm not it anymore after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Oh my goodness… this chapter was so utterly painful and hard to write. Even though I always have an idea of the plot for what I write, writing the start is just so, so hard. Therefore, I'd like to ask for as much criticism as possible. I don't mind if you tear this thing to pieces – it's what I need and what I'd really, really appreciate.

Well, I suppose that's all I have to say. Hope you enjoyed the (long) chapter.

P.S: I didn't know this chapter would turn out so long.


	3. Hero: I

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 2: Hero (I)**_

"Melanie, wait up!"

"Can't you hear us? Stop walking!"

"Wait up, _Sion!"_

"Sion!"

I grumble and turn on a corner, trying to ignore my friends. It's already obvious that they're trying to get information on what happened yesterday, and I don't want to talk about it.

"Sion!" I immediately skid to a halt before I know it, and on instinct I turn to them.

"It's _Melanie!"_ I yell, stomping one foot on the ground. It's not until a few seconds later that I realize I wasn't able to successfully ignore them, and I mentally slap myself.

"Gotcha!" Ayana quickly runs over to me, and just as I try to turn and run, she grabs my arm.

"Hey, stop it! Let go!" I twist my arm a few times, trying to free myself from her grip, but then Kylie comes and grabs my other arm. "What the heck are you doing?"

I start kicking the ground in an attempt to make it harder for them as they start to drag me to who knows where, but then Nolan walks right up to me and grabs my feet, lifting me up. "Whoa!"

"Stop!" I start to twist and turn. After a minute or so, I'm finally able to get them to loosen their grip, but that was probably a bad idea. Why? Because as soon as their grips on my limbs loosen, I fall face-first onto the ground.

"Ow!" I immediately curl up once the rest of my body lands on my right arm, where my injured shoulder is. "Ow ow ow ow…"

"Ack!" Ayana squeaks, stepping back a little bit. "I'm sorry!"

"Are you okay?" I feel someone gently grabbing me by my shoulders and lifting me up. It's Kylie.

As soon as they're able to get me standing up, I'm overtaken by a sudden feeling of anger. "What's up with that!" I throw my hands up, glaring at the three of them.

"We're sorry!" They all put up their hands in defense. I cross my arms and look at them, waiting for an explanation, even though I already know what they will probably say.

"We just wanted to know what was up with you yesterday," Nolan sighs. "And today. You just went and disappeared when you were it and…"

"I knew it," I mutter under my breath.

"What was that?" Ayana tilts her head, looking at me. I shake my head and sigh, trying not to look at her directly in the eyes. It's so hard to face her now, especially because of what I found out yesterday…

"I'm sorry," I start, and look around. We're in the middle of our school's crowded hallway, and I don't want to cause a commotion (even though we probably already caused one). "I can't tell you right now. There's just so much going on and I… just want to be alone for a bit."

I look at them and see their frowns. Suddenly I start to feel bad for making them worry so much. I know many people would do anything for good friends like these, and here I am, avoiding them and (maybe) being difficult. There's an awkward silence as the four of us stare at each other (with me still trying to avoid Ayana's gaze).

"Okay…" Kylie finally speaks. "Can you eat with us then, at least?" She looks at the lunch bag I'm holding in my hand. I blink, unable to understand how they could just let something like this go so easily, but I don't want to make myself more difficult for them.

"Alright," I agree and give them a smile – probably the first one ever since I woke up today. They smile back and Kylie and Ayana link arms with me. They try to link with Nolan, but he quickly shakes his head, becoming flustered.

"I'm not a girl!" He protests, drawing giggles from the three of us. We start to walk, taking a few steps; however, before we're able to continue, we're interrupted.

"_Excuse us for the interruption – Sion Skieros, please come into the office,"_ I hear my name get called on the P.A system. _"Sion Skieros, please come into the office."_

Slowly, I unlink arms with Ayana and Kylie, and glance at them as if saying 'see you later' before hastily rushing down the stairs and into the office. What could they be calling me for?

* * *

><p>"Ahh, Sion," Principal Ferdi adjusts his monocle, smiling at me. "Please take a seat."<p>

I slowly walk over to his desk, hesitantly pulling out a chair and sitting on the opposite side of him. "Am I… in trouble?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" He shakes his head, reassuring me with a kind tone in his voice. I nod, nervously waiting for him to keep on going. He turns on his wheeled chair, opening a cabinet. He looks through it for a minute or so before taking out a folder and then slamming it on the table, startling me.

"This is your student record," the principal looks at me directly in the eye before opening the folder. He stands up. "A perfect, clean record."

"There are good marks in there, most of them above average," the way he's walking around the table – and around me, in circles, is starting to make me feel intimidated. "But what I think is most outstanding is that you've been a worker in volunteer jobs a few times and have helped many people without being asked to."

"Y…yes?" I reluctantly try to confirm what he's telling me, even though I actually have no idea why he's doing this.

"But Sion," his voice suddenly turns serious. "I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"What is it that you believe in?"

"Pardon?"

"What do you think will come out of these actions?" I am taken aback by his question. To be honest, I did this because I wanted to be like one of those pretty heroines in those T.V shows I watched. I wanted to be like them; to be happy by just making others happy and to be known as 'the nice, helpful girl'. But of course, I don't know if I can bring myself to admit this to someone like the principal.

"I…"

"For every action is a reason, Sion," he states.

"…Why are you asking me this?" I weakly ask him, a bit overwhelmed. I thought that school principals usually just talked to you about how you've been doing in school, not about why you're being helpful.

"Sion, answer my question," there seems to be a hint of demand in his voice, but I quickly shake it off. I look down and start to fidget with the hem of my skirt, biting my bottom lip. I just want to get out of here.

"People are happy when others help them," I mumble loud enough for him to hear, but I don't look up to see what he's doing. "Everything in this town, the people… it's just so… gloomy. If such a small action such as simply smiling at them, helping them, can make them happy, then doesn't that count?"

There is a pregnant silence. I skeptically look up and see the blank expression on my principal's face. Before I'm able to look down again, he speaks up. "Just as I thought," he sighs.

"W-What?"

"I knew you would answer like that. But," the principal walks towards me, scratching his temple and stands next to me. "I don't believe that sneaking into the mines and releasing a test subject can be called _simple_, Sion."

I freeze. "How do you know…" I start, but I'm interrupted when he puts up his hand.

"Now that I know of your intentions," he reaches into his pocket. "I have an offer for you."

"An offer?" He nods and takes out a tightly sealed envelope, handing it to me.

"What is this?" I reach out and take it, inspecting it carefully. It looked like some kind of old envelope, those that people would use probably several hundred years ago. The paper was a light brown and some of its corners were crinkled. The opening was kept closed with red sealing wax that had a gear carved into it. There was no writing at all on the envelope except for the bottom left hand corner, which had my name written on it.

"It's an invitation to join the Resistance," Ferdi explains to me. My eyes widen as I start to look at him and the envelope back and forth.

"The… Resistance?" I involuntarily gasp in surprise. Does this mean principal Ferdi is part of the Resistance?

"Yes, and– " his sentence is cut off in the middle by me.

"B-But… the Resistance is dangerous!"

"But it's your chance to be recognized, isn't it?" Ferdi looks at me right in the eye. "You wanted to help others. Isn't this your chance?"

His words stab me like a knife. What he is saying _is _true – this is a chance to be seen as a hero. A chance to do more than just do simple tasks for others, hoping that it will help them remember me. If I join, I can be seen as more than just 'the nice, helpful girl'. By joining the Resistance, I will shine more than I do now (which, by the way, is probably not much).

The only downside, however, is that it's a dangerous task. But if I was able to rescue Vita and get away with only a shoulder wound, then what else could go wrong, right?

Well, for one, many other things could go wrong, probably. But that doesn't matter right now. I look up at the principal, ready to give him my answer, but he speaks up before I'm able to do anything.

"Take it home with you," he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Read the letter and think about it. I'll be ready to take your response any time."

I decide to go with what he said. I haven't even read the letter yet, and I was just about to say yes to joining the Resistance. But I think that I will say yes anyway, even after reading the letter. After all, being seen as a hero, being remembered for making others happy by helping out, and so many more good things could come out of joining the Resistance. And to me, that beats having to sustain some injuries.

After being dismissed by the principal, I turn and walk out of the office with a smile on my face.

_**yOu'Re MiStAkEn…**_

Feeling the air get warm and sweet and my head spin, I immediately turn and meet eye to eye with an aggressive-looking girl, her bright red eyes glaring at me.

_**yOu'Ll ReGrEt ThIs…**_

"What are you talking about?" For one of the first times, I don't feel fear when looking at her.

_**ThErE's MoRe To It ThAn YoU tHiNk…**_

"Right," I sigh, turning around and waving a hand in dismissal. "Whatever."

_**PaThEtIc… PaThEtIc PATHETIC PATHETIC!**_

I swallow up the insult that would usually crumble me to pieces. "You don't scare me," I turn my head, glaring at her and then start walking away.

_**YoU'lL bE SORRY, SION…**_

"It's _Melanie!"_ Turning around for the umpteenth time to correct the brat, it seems like I did it too late, because she's gone. I shrug and start to go to meet my friends before lunch ends.

However, for some odd reason, I can't shake off the feeling of hesitation I got when she appeared. But it must be nothing… right?

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>This chapter was also kind of challenging to write, but not as much as the last one. The amount of reviews I got for the last chapter was, I have to admit, kind of disappointing, so I hope that there's a chance I can get some more this time. Criticism is one of the best things I can get, so if there's a need to tear this thing apart, go ahead. Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.


	4. Crushed

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 3: Crushed**_

Flopping down on my bed, I smile, staring up at the ceiling. Turning over, I grab my bag and take out the letter I received and sit up.

"Let's see what you have to say," I whisper to it, and open the envelope, bracing myself for a formal letter listing my virtues and requesting that I join them. However, what I saw was completely different from what I expected.

"It's… blank?" Blinking a few times, I turn the paper over and see nothing. The whole thing is blank. I frown. Is this some sick joke?

At the realization that I might have been tricked, I start to feel disheartened. I thought that this was the real thing, especially since I actually met a member of the Resistance the day before.

"I should just go to sleep…" I sigh, closing my eyes to prevent any tears from forming and clutch the blank letter tightly in my hand. All this excitement for nothing… what a waste.

* * *

><p>"Mm…" Rolling over, I slowly and easily open my eyes under the darkness, wondering what happened. But the crumpled up paper that I feel in the palm of my hand once I wake up reminds me of what happened just not too long ago. "Right…"<p>

Turning my head, I look out the window. It's so dark outside that I assume it should be around 10 or 11 P.M. I'm way late for dinner, and most kids living here probably already went to sleep. Surprisingly, I don't feel as upset about the blank letter anymore. It was just a letter. Just a letter. I look over to the paper in my hand to give it one last glance before I throw it away for good.

"What…?" I gasp, and my eyes widen. The letter no longer looked the same. While it still held its beige colour, there were some parts of the paper that were… glowing. Glowing in a neon green colour. I quickly shoot up from my position and straighten the wrinkled paper the best I can.

What I see was completely different from what I saw a few hours ago, but it's not what I was expecting to see a couple hours ago either.

* * *

><p><em>Sion 'Melanie' Skieros,<em>

_Join the Resistance._

* * *

><p>Before I'm able to twitch at how vague this letter is and that whoever wrote this seriously needs to learn how to write proper letters, I notice that under the second sentence is a detailed glowing circle that occupies most of the space in this letter.<p>

"A magic circle…" I blink, staring and feeling mesmerized by it. So mesmerized that my other hand – the one that isn't holding the letter – reaches forward and touches the circle.

And then, everything goes by like a flash.

"_Far from the main mansion, the police station stands. At the very back of the building, an old wooden door rests," _My head starts to spin as a voice starts to speak to me; a voice that I think I've never heard before, but yet it sounds so familiar at the same time.

"_Into the door. Into the small, dusty room filled with brooms and buckets. You will find what you seek there."_

I gingerly raise the hand that previously touched the magic circle and rub one of my temples. What a headache. As I rub my temple I glance down at the letter again to see if anything changed.

"Eek!" Squeaking, I drop the flaming letter onto the ground, acting on instinct. My eyes pop open in shock, realizing what I had done; but then the wooden floor wasn't burning up at the blue flames that were igniting the letter. Eventually, the small flames disappeared after burning the paper to ashes.

To my surprise (again), the ashes – as if naturally – started to flow out of my open window in an almost captivating pattern, making me feel like they were trying lead me somewhere. I could only watch as the ashes drifted away, and once they were gone, something in my mind clicked.

Rushing to my closet and opening it, I take out an orange sweater, khaki shorts and black tights. Changing as fast as I can, I tip-toe out of my room with white worn-out sneakers and run out of the orphanage.

"Far from the main mansion," I pant. "The police station stands." I turn on corners and look around desperately around the dark, trying to discern the police station out of all the other decayed buildings until I finally find it.

"Very back of the building," Slow down, Melanie. Slow down. You're going to tire yourself out. Look around, look around, it should be around here… look around…

…

Oh, found it. I take the almost rusted doorknob and try to open the door. "It's locked? Jammed?" I groan and smack my palm against my face. "Ugh."

Well, there _has_ to be a way to get in there. Trying to find some kind of key around here, I immediately freeze once I hear rustling and look around.

_**HEEHEE.**_

"Who's there?" Maybe I shouldn't be so alarmed. But damn it I'm only 15… I get scared, too. "Answer me!"

_**HEEHEE…**_

A shiver runs down my spine. "Must be my mind playing tricks on me," I mutter to try and reassure myself, taking a step forward.

_Click._

"Eh…?" Casting a quick glance at where my foot is, I notice that it's stepping down on one of the bricks in the pavement.

"Is this supposed to mean anything?" I blink, unhurriedly starting to look up again to continue finding clues on how to open this door, which, by the way, is now slowly opening.

…

Wait. Door that is slowly ope…–

"Agh!" I shriek as the door that was, ahem, _slowly_ opening, not _too_ long ago, decided to open itself about _10 times quicker_ than before and smack me square in the face, making me fall back.

"Uu…" Wiping away some small tears forming at my eyes because of the pain and rubbing my face with the sleeve of my sweater, I stand up and kick the stupid door before going in after realizing that I didn't need to look for clues on how to open the door anymore.

**[/]/[/]!**

Spinning around to try and detect where the loud slamming sound came from, a feeling of intense fear floods my body when I realize that it was the door to this small room that was slammed and I fall to the ground in a sitting position.

"The door closed," I say to myself in a daze, staring at the ground and slowly backing up to the wall behind me. "The door slammed the door closed I'm stuck I'm trapped inside this scary old small place that could be filled with spiders and insects and…"

_Click._

My eyes snap open once I hear another click and I look around carefully. I see nothing and sigh, leaning back on the wall and putting all my weight on it. Maybe it was just some animal (I involuntarily shiver at the thought) and maybe it'll be alright and I can try to unlock myself from this place once I'm sure everything will be…–

**[ | ] | [ | ]**

"**AH!" **I let out a long, terrified scream once I feel a part of the wall sink right in and soon, the part of the floor below me disappears and I fall down a hole on the ground. I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going… to…

"Ack!" Shrieking once again once I fall onto cold, hard wooden floor, I stay in a lying down position, my forehead pressed against the ground. As I bite my lip in frustration to prevent myself from crying, I take a few minutes to compose myself.

One minute. Two minutes. Three. Four…

Alright, that's enough. Come on Melanie, you're going to be joining the Resistance soon. You can't be a crybaby…

Getting up and rubbing my face with my sleeve, I look around where I am. At first, I see nothing – just black. Darkness. But after blinking a few times, my eyes become adjusted to the dark, and I can finally see at least half of what I couldn't.

This room looks like a library. A very old one, at that. There was a small wooden desk and a surprisingly big bookshelf filled with countless books.

"Achoo!" I sneeze, shivering. "V-Very dusty room…"

"What's a library doing down here anyway?" Muttering, I walk towards the bookshelf. The first thing that caught my eye was a thick red book – by just staring at it, I felt something strange; as if it was almost telling me to take it, even though I knew that books weren't living.

Following my gut, I take the book and gently blow away the dust from the cover. But yet again, that was a bad decision considering that since this room was filled with dust, the objects inside it were too. And so, I spent at least two minutes flailing around with a heavy book on my arm trying to get rid of the dust that was threatening to enter my nose.

"Why is this happening to me…?" I groan once everything's been cleared up. I open the book.

Nothing.

"What the…" Unbelievable. A blank book? Seriously? First a blank letter (that didn't really turn out so blank when it was dark) and now a thick blank book? Where's the glowing letters?

In a sudden wave of frustration, I stomp over to the bookshelf and slam the dumb book into the space where it used to be.

_Click._

"Eh?" Rapidly turning my head over once I feel something quick move right next to me, the wind is knocked out of my lungs when the bookshelf starts to spin at a breakneck pace, slamming my side and knocking me over to a brand new room.

* * *

><p>"Hey hey, I think she's here!" I hear yet another familiar voice, but I ignore it. This is too much to take in… too much for one day. I've been through at least 3 booby traps while trying to find the Resistance's hideout, and I'll guess that this isn't really the place I'm looking for either.<p>

"Are you okay, kid?" And now comes a voice that I don't recognize. I let out a whimper while my face is still pressed against the ground (again), but I sit up once I realize that I don't want to seem like a coward in front of whoever is here.

"I'm good, thanks…"

"Good, good!" Looking up at the familiar feminine voice, I meet friendly brown eyes staring right back at me. "You're joining the Resistance too, aren't you?"

"I-I am," a pause. "Wait… so I'm in the right place now?"

"You are," someone replies before the girl in front of me is able to respond. It's that person with the unfamiliar voice from before, but when I see him, he suddenly looks familiar.

"Who are you?" I ask him, not wanting to think at this very moment because of the chain of events that happened about what, a few minutes ago?

"Elex," he replies, looking me up and down as if I looked familiar to him. "Do you attend Leben High?"

"I do, yeah," his serious eyes lighten up slightly and he opens his mouth to speak.

"Hey, I go to that school, too!" The brown-eyed girl from before cuts in before he's able to say anything. "I think I've seen you around!"

"What's your name?" I ask her politely and ready myself to search through my memory to see where I've seen her before.

"Crescent," she tilts her head, giving me a friendly smile. "I'm Crescent Schaft."

"Crescent Schaft," I mumble, trying to recall who it is. "Crescent…"

Oh. Found it. "Are you that girl from the art club? The one that also works at a hair salon?"

"You've got it, girl," she puts her hand on her chin and nods thoughtfully. A complete change of the way she was acting a few seconds ago.

"I'mMMFGg… –" The rest of my sentence comes out as a muffled sound when Crescent puts her hand over my mouth.

"No, don't say it! I want to see if I know who you are!" I quietly nod while looking at her and shake my head a few times to get her hand away from my face.

"Melanie Skieros?" She looks at me as if asking whether she got it right or not and then tosses her dark blue – almost black – hair over her shoulder. My mouth pops open in amazement.

"Yeah," I confirm, nodding. "Sion Melanie."

"Are you girls done?" Elex asks in frustration, impatiently tapping his foot. I get up right away from my sitting position and stand up, astonished at his sudden change of moods.

"Y-Yes sir," I reply nervously, suddenly having remembered who he was. He was a kindergarten teacher from when I was still in Leben Elementary. Judging the fancy clothing he's wearing right now and the logo on his shirt, he must be part of the Resistance. Who knew?

"Done," Crescent says in a sing-song voice.

"Good, follow me," he turns around. Crescent and I look at each other before we start walking.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"You're in the Resistance's hideout," Elex replies without looking back.

"If we're going to be working here, does that mean I have to go through... _that_, again?" I emphasize the word 'that' and imagine myself having to jump down a hole on the floor and being flipped over by a bookshelf.

"No," he explains. "The path filled with traps that you two just went through not too long ago is just the way that newbies will be arriving here."

"So that means we don't have to go through all that hell?" Crescent asks him.

"Everything will be explained once we arrive to the office," Elex talks to us with a tone that says 'now shut up and keep walking', and so, feeling like a prisoner, I decide to shut up.

* * *

><p>"We're here," Our muscular 'guide', Elex, announces as we open another door and step into a room with some cameras of the city. As soon as we step in, everyone inside the room ceases their actions and looks at us. I fiddle nervously in my spot.<p>

"This doesn't look like an office," Crescent leans over and whispers into my ear, making me even more nervous; but I nod in response anyway to be polite.

"You are here alright," a masked brunette walks over to us and the people in this big room – whatever they were doing – start to chatter while pointing at us. I could recognize some of these little constant whispers.

"Well, here they are, Claudine," Elex steps back. "This one here took longer than we expected, that's why we arrived this late," he shoots me a small glare and I resist the urge to jump back slightly.

"No problem," the woman, known as Claudine, shakes her head and smiles at us. "You guys probably recognize some people from town here, don't you?"

"Yeah," Crescent and I say at the same time. "Jinx!" She says in a sing-song voice again.

"You probably have many questions right now," she takes out her hands from her pockets and places them on our heads, making me feel short. "Don't worry. Everything will be explained."

"I'll leave these to you now, Claudine," Elex gives us one more glance that says 'you better behave' and then turns and leaves.

"What's with him?" I mumble as low as possible so no one can hear. If that's the way he treats his kindergarten students, I wonder how they deal with him.

"Follow me, girls," Claudine motions us to follow her and we do, while trying to ignore the stares Crescent and I are receiving.

* * *

><p>"Take a seat," she points to the chairs by the desk. We slowly sit down and once we're all straightened up, we look up at her.<p>

"You're very confused right now, aren't you?"

"I am," Crescent replies and I simply mouth a 'yes'.

"However I'm sure you're not completely clueless about the Resistance," we shake our heads, agreeing. "To make this easier for you, let's break this down into pieces," she grabs two papers. These papers have our photos and our names on it, and the rest was just like a form.

"First, we'll start with what members of the Resistance do," Claudine starts explaining. "In general, there are 2 parts to being a member: you attend missions and in some cases, fight the Black Wings face to face. The other part is staying behind and supporting the ones who do go to missions such as working in the infirmary and making medicine."

By this time, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to choose to be doing. Fight, or stay behind as support?

"The part about healing others and making medicine is easy enough," she looks at us straight in the eyes. "It's fit for the ones who want to help in some way, but dislike fighting."

"That means the part about going to missions is a completely different story, isn't it?" Crescent speaks up.

"Yes," Claudine nods. "Most of the missions take place in the Leben Mines, the place where people other than the Black Wings are forbidden to go," she turns to me. "But this girl over here has already been there once before."

"I… yeah," I look at Claudine and then Crescent back and forth nervously before settling my eyes on my hands, which were placed on my lap.

"If you choose to fight, you get to choose one of the jobs available in the Resistance. You've surely heard of job advancements before, right?"

"Of course," I reply.

"It may seem like Edelstein doesn't have any of those, but we do. We have 3 job advancements you can choose from."

This part starts to get me more interested. I've always wanted to be a cleric; clerics heal and they can fight at the same time. It'd be like being both useful in battle and in support.

"What are those jobs?" I ask her anxiously before Crescent can say anything.

"Hmm," Claudine closes her eyes for a second and then opens them. "These 3 jobs fall into 3 different categories," she explains. "Mage, pirate and archer."

Exactly what I was looking for. Mage.

"Only three?" The girl beside me asks, clearly uncomfortable. "But I thought there existed more."

"Oh there are more, but those are only available in Victoria Island," the masked woman gives us an apologetic look. "But the jobs we have available are exclusive to us only; you can't find them anywhere else."

"Is one of those jobs a cleric?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"Unfortunately, we don't train clerics. We don't have anyone who can do holy magic," this statement basically crushes me, because that's what I wanted to be. But because I don't want to show any weakness, I suppress this feeling while I'm still facing her.

"Then what are these jobs you're talking about?" Crescent seems to be getting impatient.

"Battle mage, wild hunter and mechanic," Claudine lists them, counting each one of them with her fingers.

"Battle mage, wild hunter and mechanic," I mumble quietly to myself. I think I might just choose to stay behind and act as support. I don't want any other job other than a cleric.

"Can we get a detailed explanation on these three jobs?" Crescent asks Claudine, and she shakes her head.

"You will get one. But not now."

"Why not?"

"Look at the time. It's past 12 now. Isn't it a school day tomorrow?" Normally, I would freak out at that, but I can't seem to be able to focus well enough. I can't believe that I won't be able to be a cleric, the job I've always wanted to be (as far as I remember).

"Right," Crescent sighs. "Then when will we get one?"

"It's a Friday tomorrow. Come here again by 8 P.M and we'll show you what we do."

"Okay," We both nod. I want to say that I just want to work in the infirmary or something, but don't have the energy to. Funny how just one sentence is enough to crush someone. However I guess I shouldn't jump onto that decision too quickly – I haven't even seen what these jobs do yet.

"Will we have to come back through the same way we did today to get here?" I ask Claudine.

"Unfortunately for you, yes. Elex will be waiting for you there again, though – so try to be there on time," she smiles at me sheepishly.

* * *

><p>After being guided out of the Resistance's base, I am walking home by myself. With the sound of the crickets and the streetlights guiding me home, it is definitely slightly creepy to be out here so late.<p>

But it's something I'll probably have to get used to now.

"_We don't train clerics. We don't have anyone who can do holy magic."_

I furrow my eyebrows, remembering what Claudine had said. I can't be a cleric. I won't be one. My dream won't come true. I should've left with Khalid to Victoria Island. And yet, how would I have known that I'd regret not being able to go with him? How would I have known that the Black Wings would forbid everyone from leaving town shortly after the Big Bang?

How?

"It's all their fault," I clench my fists. "Their fault."

I would've chosen to fight, even though I don't like it. I would've, if clerics were available at the Resistance. But they aren't. So I won't.

Making up my decision as I walk back to the orphanage, I conclude that I will definitely just work in the infirmary. No cleric, no fighting.

_**cOwArD…**_

The space around me starts to spin for a moment and I am struck with fear. Instantaneously turning around to see who it was, I see nothing.

There was nothing there. Nothing. The only sign that there could have been someone there was the small giggles echoing in my mind, slowly turning into insane laughter. Laughter. Laughing. At me.

Laughing teasingly as if I was a joke. As if I was one of the most stupid people ever. Me.

_**pAtHeTiC…**_

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Probably the 2nd hardest chapter I've had to write. There isn't really much to say here, but if possible, please leave a review :P (I can see how many clicks this story gets, people).

Um, anyways. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one should come out (hopefully) soon.


	5. Prove it!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 4: Prove it!**_

"Alright class, before we start, we will take attendance," there's an eerie silence for a few seconds before the teacher starts to call out names. I pay no attention to them, simply yawning and looking down at my desk, slowly closing my eyes a little bit. It couldn't hurt to rest my eyes while the teacher calls out names, right?

"_Unfortunately, we don't train clerics."_

The same velvety voice from yesterday snaps me back into reality, and I clench my pencil tighter. What the woman Claudine said, did it affect me that much?

"Sion Skieros," the teacher calls out and I immediately sit up straighter.

"Here!" I call out raising my hand slightly. The teacher, Ms. Edna, nods with a smile before looking down at her clipboard and checking off my name.

Sinking back on my seat slightly, I look around the class because I have nothing else left to do besides sulk about what happened yesterday.

"Ayana Vermilion," I hear my best friend's name get called out and I instinctively take a glance at her seat to see if she's there, even know I already know that she is indeed here.

"Hello," she gives Ms. Edna a small smile, waving her hand.

"Good morning," Ms. Edna returns the smile before going back and calling out more names. After a minute or so, she's finally done taking the attendance.

"Okay class," she claps her hands together, breathes in some air in an exaggerated way and sighs, smiling at us. "Today we will start a new unit. Surely you've done genetics before, correct?"

* * *

><p>"And so I was like, 'you can't do that! It's cheating!' but he didn't listen to me," Ayana rambles to me at lunch and I stare at my sandwich without saying a word, not paying attention to whatever she's telling me.<p>

"But karma got him back and…–" she comes to an abrupt stop and then looks at me. "Melanie?"

"Hm?" I mumble without looking up, feeling very sleepy.

"Hey, wake up!"

"Huh?"

"I said, _wake up!"_

"Ach!" I half-shriek, half-scream when she throws a cracker at me. I wasn't expecting that.

"You're not paying attention!" She puts her hands on her hips, glaring at me. I sigh.

"Sorry," I tell her. "I'm just tired."

"I swear, if Kylie and Nolan were here instead of their stupid club meetings you'd be wide awake!"

"But they're not here," I look at her. "So I'm not wide awake."

Well, that wasn't really the case. The fact that I was so sleepy and so tired and (maybe) a bit depressed wasn't because of the fact that Kylie and Nolan weren't here eating lunch with us today. It was because one, I didn't get enough sleep yesterday, and two, I'm being a loser about what happened yesterday and still sulking about not being able to become a cleric.

"Is something wrong?" Ayana sighs and asks me. "Our high school's sweetheart isn't usually this down."

"Don't call me that," I cringe, remembering the title I had been given in this school. I was (and still am) one of Leben High's sweethearts, and while the title was quite flattering sometimes, it was usually also pretty embarrassing. "Plus, don't forget you're a sweetheart too."

"I know," she smiles. "But unlike _someone_ here, I'm actually acting like a sweetheart and not a total downer."

"Hey, I'm not always like this," I frown. We both fall into silence, and I slowly lie myself on the ground, looking up at the sky.

"If you could leave this place and get a job advancement, what would it be?" I ask her. I remember that when we were younger, we would dress up and pretend we were heroes chosen to save this world (and that thought itself is enough to make me smile). I would be a cleric, while Ayana would constantly switch between every type of mage known.

"A mage," she replies almost instantly with no hesitation.

"What kind?"

"Any."

"That's not specific enough."

"I don't have to be," Ayana grins. "If I could, I'd be every type of mage that exists!" She puts up her arms.

"What if you found out you couldn't?"

"Isn't that the case right now?" She looks at me. "No one is allowed to leave town anymore."

"True," I sigh. "But I meant that if you had the opportunity. If it was within your grasp and yet for some reason you couldn't, what would you do?"

"I'd keep trying," she nods thoughtfully. "Whatever obstacle can't be that hard, right? But why are you asking me this in the first place?"

Alright so maybe this conversation won't help as much as I thought it would. The only way I can become a cleric is if there's at least one involved with the Resistance or if I'm allowed to leave town. None of those options are available.

I stand up, feeling like I need some time by myself to think. "Eh? Where are you going?" Ayana tilts her head.

"I'm going for a walk," I tell her, waving a hand in dismissal. "See you later."

* * *

><p>"Oof!"<p>

"Ack, sorry!" I take a few steps back after bumping into someone.

"It's al – oh hey, it's Melanie!" I immediately recognize Crescent once I look up.

"Hey, Crescent," she returns the smile I give her.

"What are you doing?"

A shrug. "Just taking a walk. Need some time to think."

"I see, I see," she nods like one of those wise men I've seen in T.V shows. "About what happened yesterday, right?"

"Right," I nod. "Still a bit bummed out."

"Yeah, you did look pretty bummed out about it alright," Crescent gives me a sympathetic smile.

I look around. There's no sign of any patrol robots. "What are you going to be doing?"

"Already knew ever since yesterday. I'll be fighting," she whispers the last part to make sure that no one hears her. "You?"

"Support," I whisper back to her, still trying to see if there's any patrol robots around. If any of those catch us talking about this, we're most likely dead meat.

"Aww," Crescent frowns. "You should fight with me!"

"I don't know," I mutter while shaking my head. "I've always wanted to be a cleric."

"Come on," she whines. "I don't want to start alone."

After considering the possibilities, I speak up. "Fine," I tell her. "I'll attend the job samplings with you."

Honestly, I was planning on telling them that I wanted to work in the infirmary first thing when I got there tonight. But I suppose I was being irrational by not giving it a chance.

"Yes!" she cheers in a hushed whisper, pumping up a fist. "I won't be alone!"

Smiling, I turn my attention back to the field we're walking in. Feeling slightly more relieved, I make it my goal to enjoy this walk before the bell calls us back to class.

* * *

><p>"Melanie!" I almost instantly spot Crescent a few steps away from the entrance of the orphanage as I exit.<p>

"Hey," I blink. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought maybe we could go there together," she replies, referring to the Resistance's hideout as 'there'.

"Sounds good," a few seconds pass. "Wait, how do you know I live here?"

"I have my ways," she rubs her palms in a rather sinister-looking way.

"I don't want to know," I gulp. Using a joking tone in my voice, I tell her, "You're creepy."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Crescent smiles. "Let's go. It's dark, so I want to be quick."

Agreeing, I start to follow her. The wind is strong tonight, which makes me wonder why I even chose to wear the shorts and tights from yesterday.

"I swear," I mutter to myself. "I'm just so stupid sometimes…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I shake my head.

"You're so mysterious," she comments.

"Well, I don't remember anything from before I was ten," I blurt out. "So I guess I _could_ be somewhat mysterious."

"That'd kill me," Crescent frowns. Is that sympathy I see in her eyes? I won't take a guess.

"How so?"

"I don't know. It just would. I mean, not knowing anything about my life before that and then wanting to find out so badly. It'd tear me apart."

I blink a few times. For the first time since I've met her, she's almost never talked without a happy tone in her voice. "I'm used to it."

"Hey, we're here!" She exclaims cheerfully. What's with the change of moods?

"We are," I confirm, looking at the old police station. "Let's go."

Crescent and I take a turn around the police station, quickly finding the door behind it.

"How did you open this thing again?" I ask her, touching the door. She grins and steps forward, slamming her foot onto a brick in the pavement.

Before I know it, the door flies open and slams me right in the face, knocking me back and I shriek as I fall onto the ground.

"_Crescent!"_ I try not to scream at her, so it comes out as a hushed whisper.

"Um, oops," she smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry."

"Whatever," I use the sleeve of my shirt to rub away the tears I got in my eyes from the impact. I will not get mad I will not get mad I will not… get… mad.

I will not get mad. I am not, _not_, mad.

I'm not mad.

"Let's just get going," I say as Crescent helps me up from the ground. We both enter the door, which shuts itself with a slam a few seconds later.

"Where's that button?" She asks me and I shrug, pointing to the corner of the wall in front of us. We both start to make our way there and I grab the sleeve of her shirt as she presses the button.

And then, we let out a long scream when we feel the floor below us disappear, plunging us deep underground.

* * *

><p>"Good, you guys are on time," Elex looks down on us. We're on the ground again, after going down that hole and then being smacked to the other side of the underground library.<p>

"We are," I state, sighing and dusting myself off. Crescent gets up and I soon follow.

"Follow me," he nods at us and turns around. Even though we already went through the same hallways yesterday, we still find ourselves looking around. Unlike yesterday, Elex decides to take us straight to Claudine's office.

"Alright," Elex looks at us (is that a glare?) once we reach the door to Claudine's office. "_Behave,"_ he tells us with a haunting tone in his voice before gently (how is that possible for him?) knocking on the door. It opens after a minute.

"Oh," Claudine looks slightly surprised for a second, but her expression soon shuts down. "Come in."

* * *

><p>"So!" A small stack of papers is slammed onto the desk. "There's a few things to need to be aware of when doing these job samplings," she starts to explain.<p>

"Safety?" I interrupt. Not to be rude of course, but because I don't want to listen to more of those safety lectures that we're all aware of.

"Yes, that," she says. "But there's more to it."

I stop myself from groaning. "Well, alright…"

"First of all, our building is separated into different sections for people of different jobs and levels," Claudine walks around us as she says this. "You'll be sent to the beginner section just so you can see how things work here for beginners."

"So we don't get to see anyone in the advanced section?" Crescent asks.

"Yes," she nods. "You'll only be beginners right now if you choose to fight. So might as well see what beginners can do, right?"

Silence. Claudine walks to the other side of the desk and sits down. "In what order would you like to see the jobs?"

Crescent and I look at each other and shrug. "It doesn't matter," I tell her.

"Doesn't matter, huh?" She sighs. "Okay. In that case, you'll be going to the Mechanics first. Then it's wild hunters and battle mages. That fine with you?"

"Sure," Crescent says, and I nod.

"Good. Elex is waiting for you outside of the room, so don't keep him waiting," Claudine smiles at us as we get up from our seats and start to make our way out.

"Oh, and girls?" We turn our heads and look at Claudine.

"Have fun."

* * *

><p>"Wow… this place," I gasp in amazement as I look at the room filled with training machines ready to be used and at the robots with surprisingly tiny legs.<p>

"Hello," we turn around once we hear a muffled voice call out to us.

"Checky?" Crescent's mouth drops as she sees him. "The mascot?"

"You must be the new recruits," even though I can't see his face, I can somehow tell he's smiling. "Come, we'll show you what we do."

We follow him and Elex stays behind at the entrance of the room, watching us carefully. Checky walks toward another robot – one that is unused – and then starts to talk.

"What do you know about mechanics?"

"Nothing," Crescent shrugs and I just shake my head.

"They fix things?" Okay, very lame answer. I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Well yeah, sure, but that's not exactly what we're supposed to be doing," he chuckles. "Basically we use technology like this to fight."

"So this robot does all the work for you?"

"It does," Checky replies bluntly. "But that's not just it."

"Not it?" We watch as Checky jumps up onto the robot, steers it to face a target on the wall, and then presses a button. I hear the sound of engines roaring before it launches a large flame that burns up the target and startles us.

"That…" I blink. I am at a loss for words. This robot, this _thing,_ it looks so small and so fragile and it just… burned up the target to ashes.

"That's not all," I sense a smirk from him and he presses another button. And then we see something just as amazing as the flame burning up that target like before. And then he presses another button. Another amazing feat happens. And again. And again.

"How?" Crescent's eyes are glued to the handles on the robot. "It's so small… how can so many things fit into this?"

Checky jumps out of his seat, landing in front of us. "We use technology alright, but that's not all we use," he explains to us. "In order for the mechs to be able to fit so many weapons inside it, another thing is required."

"And what would that be?" I ask him.

"Have you heard of modern magic?"

* * *

><p>"Oh my <em>goodness!" <em>I cry out as I hold onto the reins that apparently allow me to control the red jaguar I'm riding. "Help me!"

…But as many people are seeing here, I can't seem to be able to control the jaguar at all. This jaguar here is jumping around here and there, making me go crazy.

"Stop!" I grip the reins tighter, trying to pull them back while fighting against the force of the wind that this jaguar is creating by just insanely running around, but to no avail. Therefore, all I'm able to do is sit there and constantly bounce around as the jaguar energetically jumps and runs around the training room.

"You look like you're having some trouble there, Melanie," Crescent says as she and her yellow jaguar pass by me. I slightly turn my head in her direction and to my surprise; see that she is riding her jaguar perfectly.

"H-How do you do that?" I squint at the sudden rush of wind.

"Do what?"

"You're riding your jaguar so nicely!" Biting my bottom lip, I try not to shriek when my jaguar suddenly jumps.

"Well, calm down first~!" She singsongs before her jaguar does an abrupt turn and they both jump away to a different spot in the room.

"Hey! T-That doesn't help!" I groan when I realize she didn't hear that and unconsciously start to loosen the grip on the reins as the jaguar starts to slow down a bit. A few seconds later, however, just when my grip is weak enough, the darned jaguar decides to perform a powered long jump, sending me tumbling to the ground.

"Melanie!" I hear Crescent's jaguar come to a sudden stop. I don't reply as I lie face down on the ground, biting back tears. I want to cry because the surprise of being flung onto the ground was a bit too much for me. Because it was scary when I fell. Not because I couldn't get this right, even though that's a much more honourable reason to cry over. Must I be such a crybaby?

"Are you alright?" And just in the nick of time, when I'm able to successfully stop myself from crying, instructor Belle comes and grabs me by the shoulders, gently lifting me up to a sitting position.

"Yeah," I exhale. "I'm okay." The jaguar I was riding slowly walks over to me, his head bowed down slightly, and places himself on my lap, whimpering. Suddenly I start to feel bad for no reason.

"Hey, it's alright," I say to the jaguar, petting him on the head. I look up at Belle, and let out a forced chuckle. "I… don't think I'm made to be a wild hunter, huh?"

Belle returns the chuckle and gives me a soft smile. "I can help you practice, if you still want to be one after the samplings."

I nod, even though I'm still hesitating. "I'll let you know."

* * *

><p>"O – kay!" Crescent pumps up a fist energetically. "We're going to experience what it's like to be a battle mage!"<p>

"Yeah…" I reply unenthusiastically. I wish that we'd experience how it feels like to be a _cleric_ here, not a battle mage.

"Come on, cheer up!" She pats me on the back. "Maybe you'll like it."

"Maybe."

"Alright, girls," Brighton, the battle mage instructor, walks towards us with two golden rods that have Resistance logos on them. "Take one."

We do as he says and look at the staves. "Before we continue," Brighton starts. "Since both of you don't have any jobs just yet, that means you don't have any mana," we nod at this. "Therefore, I'll be sharing some of my mana with you for now. That way you can try out a few beginner skills."

Right after explaining, he puts out his hand and starts to chant something in a language I can't understand. A spell. A magic circle appears on his hand, and then, a flash of light blinds me for a few seconds.

When I'm able to see again, I suddenly feel a little more enlightened. More powerful.

"Done," Brighton smiles. "Now look at me carefully," we watch as Brighton starts to spin his staff until a purple aura appears around it, drawing a saw wheel. Just when it appears, Brighton thrusts the staff in the direction he's facing and sending the saw wheel forward, smashing a target robot to pieces.

"Whoa," I blink in amazement. That was actually pretty cool.

"Think you can try that?" He looks at us. "But before you do that, you should try channeling your mana into the weapon to make it happen. Visualize what you have in mind, and there's more chances of it coming out how you want it to."

"How exactly do we channel the mana, though?" Crescent looks confused.

Brighton grins. "It's really not as hard as you think. Here, close your eyes. You've meditated before, right? Yoga sessions at school? If you've done that before, you should be able to fall into concentration quickly."

Once again, we do as he says. I gently close my eyes and take a few deep breaths like what the teacher leading the yoga session would tell us. After a few seconds pass, I hear Brighton speak up. "Now, if you see some blue mist after a minute or so, that's a sign that you are starting to concentrate. That blue mist is your mana. The more concentrated you are, the more the mist will glow."

"…So we can actually see our mana?" I ask him quietly, my eyes still closed.

"You can. It's actually a good way to tell whether you're concentrating or not," he replies. "Once you feel that you're concentrated enough, grip your staff tighter and focus on where you want the mana to go to. And when you feel you're ready, perform the skill I showed you."

…

"Let's… go!" I hear Crescent's voice, followed by a smashing sound. She must've been able to perform the skill.

Okay, no more time for distractions. Concentrate. I shut my eyes tighter and take some more breaths. I see the mana becoming brighter and brighter. Taking the opportunity when it's at its brightest, I think of my arm and the staff. I start to open my eyes, feeling ready to swing the staff.

"…!" I feel a sharp pain shooting through my body. "_Agh!"_

Brighton and Crescent gasp as I look over to them in pain. My body feels like it's on fire. Like it's being electrocuted. Like knives are being stabbed through it. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts it hurts it _hurts!_

"G-Gah!" I gasp, dropping the staff and falling to my knees, putting my hand on my mouth so I won't vomit from all of this. It feels sick, disgusting, _painful_.

So, so, painful.

I immediately shut my eyes, trying to see if anything went wrong. The blue mist takes the form of lightning, and then fire. Then it starts to keep switching back and forth, going quicker with every switch; and with every switch I feel more and more pain.

I feel Brighton taking my wrist and pressing a finger to it as he chants something, and I open my eyes to look at him as he puts on a shocked expression.

"W-What…" I try to ask him what is going on. Crescent had no problem whatsoever performing the skill – so why am I going through all this trouble?

Brighton shakes his head quickly and proceeds to chant something else. I shut my eyes and see that the mana is starting to turn back into mist, before slowly fading from my view completely. All I can see is black, and I suddenly feel weaker.

The mana is gone.

I open my eyes, feeling myself sweat. "What… happened?"

Brighton sighs. "Kiddo, I'm not sure if you'll like the news," he explains. "But your body…"

"What about it?"

"Your body isn't compatible with magic."

* * *

><p>I lie on the bed of the Resistance's infirmary, remembering what took place not too long ago.<p>

"_Your body isn't compatible with magic."_

I shut my eyes and then open them. Remembering that I'm in the infirmary alone, I let a few tears slip out of my eyes. I can't believe it. My body's not compatible with magic. And because of the fact that my body isn't compatible with magic, I can't channel my mana properly. And because I can't channel my mana properly, I can't cast spells.

It would all just cause me a lot of pain.

Even if I had been able to leave town and go to Victoria Island, I still wouldn't have been able to become a cleric.

Crescent tried to comfort me after I was brought into the infirmary to rest. She knew that I wasn't – and still am not – taking these news well.

"_You can still choose to become a battle mage if you want. It'll just take a lot more effort to improve and be able to cast spells – but if you're up for it, you can succeed,"_ I remember Brighton telling me that.

But I don't want to do this anymore. I put up with the fact that I may not be able to become a cleric because I thought I'd find another job that would fit me, and decided to go through the job samplings.

However, not everything goes the way you want it to. When I was trying to experience what it would be like to be a mechanic, I couldn't control the mech properly, so I almost ended up hurting another Resistance recruit by accident. When I was in the wild hunter sampling, I couldn't control the jaguar and hurt myself. And finally, when I was trying out the battle mage, the mana went crazy and hurt my body.

All of those situations just show how little control over myself I have. And it really, really hurts, knowing that even though I'm my school's sweetheart and have very high grades, that I can't do this.

Even though I could've chosen to fight, I would've just been a nuisance, not being able to control myself at all. Not once. Even though I didn't want to try out the job samplings and go with the support team instead, it hurts to know that I can't fight; and even if I wanted to, that I will have to be part of the support team no matter what.

But I guess that's that. Things happen for a reason. I guess I was just meant to support, not fight. I close my eyes and sigh, recalling how scared I was when I felt all that pain, wondering why it was happening.

I shiver. I don't want that happening again. It was so scary and I couldn't stand the pressure and the way I was looked at when Brighton told me my body wasn't compatible with magic.

I'm not becoming a mechanic – the machinery, the controls, it's too complicated for me. I'm not becoming a wild hunter, because I can't keep control of the jaguars, no matter how cute they are. And most definitely, I'm not going to become a battle mage, because the thought of causing myself pain again is scary enough to make me shiver.

My decision is set. I stand up, ready to walk out of the infirmary and tell Claudine that I will be becoming part of the support team.

_**cOwArD…**_

I gasp. My world starts to spin, but I immediately turn to see the source of the voice.

It's that girl from before – the ghostly looking girl waiting for me outside the principal's office the other day, speaking nonsense.

"How… did you get in here?" I glare at her. She can't be part of the Resistance, can she?

_**yOu ArE PATHETIC. A COWARD.**_

I start to feel angered. "I'm not pathetic!" I defend myself.

_**yOu ARE PATHETIC. COWARD. TOO AFRAID OF EVERYTHING.**_

"I'm _not _afraid of everything!" I yell at her. "I just don't want to hurt myself again!"

_**ScArEd Of BeInG a MeChAnIc. ScArEd Of BeInG a WiLd HuNtEr. YoU wAnT tO bE a MaGe, BuT yOu ArE TOO SCARED OF THAT TOO.**_

"I don't want to get hurt!" My hands start to shake with fury. "Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

_**I DON'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND PATHETIC COWARDS LIKE YOU. **_

"I am _not _pathetic and I am _not_ a coward!"

_**pRoVe It, LiTtLe WiTtLe GiRl…**_

"Shut up!" I tell her. Suddenly, I'm filled with determination. I am definitely _not_ going to let this girl stomp all over me. "I'll show you…" I tell her,

"_I'll show you just how good I can do as a battle mage!"_

The door opens right after I say this. I whip around, looking at Claudine, who has a look of worry on her face as she lets go of the door's handle.

"Are you okay, Melanie?" She asks me. "I heard yelling."

I turn to the spot where the girl stood just a few seconds ago. She's gone. I turn back to Claudine.

"Claudine," I start.

"Yes?"

"I want to be a battle mage."

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Well, here it is. I apologize for the long wait – this chapter came out way later than I wanted :P Hopefully I'm able to fix that and update sooner.

Anyway, there's not much left to say here. If possible, please leave a review, and if there's any suggestions/criticism, I'd be more than happy take that too ^^;


	6. INTERLUDE: A History Lesson

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**INTERLUDE: A History Lesson**_

"Ggh…" I squeeze my eyes shut, gripping my staff tighter. My whole body feels like it is burning, and the pain is nearly unbearable.

"Are you feeling alright?" Brighton asks me what I would call a pretty strange question. Do I look like I'm alright?

"Haah…" I gasp and exhale, panting. I can feel my clothing – which is soaked with sweat – clinging to my body; a very, very uncomfortable feeling.

"Do you think you can try to use another spell?" The instructor in front of me asks. "Just one more spell and your training for today is done."

"Y-Yeah," I manage to say with some difficulty. "Which one?"

"Dark aura," he replies, and I nod, using my staff for support to stand up. I can feel the other battle mages in training staring at me, but I do what I can to ignore them and close my eyes to muster up some concentration.

"**σκοτεινή αύρα****,**" I chant in 'Taika' – what mages call the language of magic – and I feel and see dark energy enveloping me, circling around me, before finally settling itself on my whole right arm. Dark purple markings resembling runes of some kind glow bright before calming down.

My whole body, especially my arm, starts to sting horribly and I find myself collapsing to my knees on the ground, the magic taking its toll on my magically incompatible body as I try not to hyperventilate from all of this.

"Hm," Brighton frowns. "Get some rest after this, won't you?" Even though I know he means well, his voice sounds surprisingly harsh. I choose to ignore this and just nod, unable to find any words to use.

Satisfied with my answer, he walks up to the front of the battle mage training room and clears his throat. "That will be all for today. If you feel like you need more practice with basic spells, feel free to make use of the training rooms here. Also, remember to keep reading up on Taika; you'll need the knowledge when you start casting more advanced spells."

Brighton continues to speak about what we will need to know for the future, something that he's already done for about the third time today during our training session. Instead of listening to his repeated lecture, I take this time to regain composure and calm down.

"**Release,**" I whisper low enough for him not to hear me, and deactivate the dark aura's effect. The markings on my right arm then dissipate into the air as soon as this happens, and fortunately, no one turns to look at me.

"…Lastly, tomorrow we'll be spending time in the classroom, so you don't need to bring your staves," Brighton reminds us once again of our schedule. "And I'll be staying here for a bit, so if you have any questions or just want to stay and train some more, you can do that here."

Everyone nods, and once Brighton sees that everyone understands, he sighs. "You are now dismissed."

The majority of the people in the room decide to hastily leave; probably anxious to get some food and rest. The rest of the people stay behind and set up some training dummies to practice their spells on. As for me, I remain seated on the ground, trying to stop myself from feeling dizzy.

"Are you feeling better?" Brighton walks towards me and asks.

"Yeah," I reply, my voice surprisingly more in control. "I'm doing what I can."

"Good to know," he nods and turns to leave.

"Wait," I call out to him and then slowly get up with the help of my staff. "I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"How is it that Taika is the only thing that allows us to cast spells?" I ask him the question that I never got to ask during all of last week, when we spent our first few days in the Resistance studying and reading up on Taika so that we could cast spells.

"A simple question with a long answer, huh?" Brighton offers a small smile. "That should've been asked last week."

I shrug at his response. I was too caught up trying to pass the test that would allow me to move onto fighting that I decided that instead of asking questions, I should be studying as much as I could – and lo and behold, that decision landed me in here: the training room.

"Well," he starts. "It can't be helped. I'll make this simple," the instructor turns to face me. "The reason why you need to know Taika to be able to cast spells is because it is the only language that has a connection to the root of magic."

"Connection to the root of magic?" I raise an eyebrow in question, confused by his statement. He nods.

"Surely, you know that today, all of us only speak one language, right?" He asks me. "Before that, there was actually another language."

"That language was Taika, wasn't it?"

"It was. And it is called the language of magic because it's also the language of gods," Brighton rubs his temple and I sense the start of a long discussion. "It was the first language that gods used, and the first language to have existed long before ours."

"Long ago, gods were actually active. People could walk around and see them and interact with them. Because Taika was the first language, people back then also spoke only in Taika," he continues to talk as if this were a history lesson. "Gods are beings of magic. They're basically the ones who created the concepts of everything in this world – time, space, the elements, you name it. People back then couldn't do any magic, so when they saw the gods perform otherworldly actions, they instantly became interested."

All I can do is stare and nod as he continues what I could call a history lesson – except, this history lesson is much more interesting than the ones I have at school.

"Sion, people are influenced by what's around them. They see something they haven't seen before and they want to do the same thing because it amazes them. That's how people are raised nowadays, and that's why parents always put an effort to make sure their children are around good examples," he shakes his head as if recalling a bad memory. "Moving on, those people managed to trace Taika back to when it was used by the gods to create the concepts of this world. Because they managed to do that, they granted themselves with powers that were almost equal to those of the gods."

"That's how magic was originated, right? They managed to trace everything back to the time where gods used Taika to create the concepts of the world, and gained knowledge on how it was used to perform those otherworldly actions," I say thoughtfully.

"Yup," he confirms my question. "Of course, the gods immediately noticed. So as soon as they found out, they decided they had to change one of the concepts of the world; that concept being language, and made another language to replace Taika to ensure that no one would be able to reach magic."

"But it was too late by then," Brighton continues to speak before I'm able to say anything. "Before they noticed, people quickly recorded and distributed the information on Taika; and it spread faster than they thought. All they could do by that time was weaken the power of magic, but consequently, they also had to weaken their own power to do that. In the end, they did it, and then cut off all communication with the people of this world."

"So is that why we need Taika to cast spells?" I ask him a question to confirm everything he just told me. "Because it was the language that the gods used to create this world?"

"Yeah, in a nutshell," he nods, and then his eyes widen as if he just realized something. "Ah, that wasn't a simple answer, now was it?"

"Not really, but I get it," I reply. "Well, at least I know what I'm doing now."

"That's good to know, then," Brighton turns to the other battle mages that are staring at him, also having heard the small history lesson. "Do you guys know what you're doing now as well?"

They all nod in unison, and without anything else left to say, they turn back to their training dummies. As for me, I turn and start to walk toward the exit door, willing to get some rest after this tiring and painful training session.

"Man," I sigh. "This is more complex than I thought, isn't it?"

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Well, this was originally intended to be chapter 5 and much longer. But then I decided that there was just too much information and talking for it to be an actual chapter, so I made it into some kind of 'filler' chapter instead. There might be other filler chapters in the future if I decide to dedicate a chapter that is filled with information or something.

For those wondering, no, the information here is probably not so canon to the actual MapleStory universe, but that's one of the reasons why I chose to write fanfiction on it. Since many of the concepts of the MapleStory universe can be left to speculation, I thought it'd be really fun to take something and make up a concept out of it; so, there. The concept of magic xD

By the way, just in case, the part with the gods was an idea I took from the game (you know, Rhinne, the goddess of time, and all that), so if it offended anyone in any way, I apologize.

Anyway, I'm done rambling now. I hope this chapter (or filler) wasn't too boring. Also, I had a bit of trouble deciding whether to actually use a different language for spells (and as you can see, decided to include it anyway in the end because I thought it was cool _), so I'd really appreciate it if someone could share their thoughts on it.

Lastly, reviews, questions, and criticism are all greatly welcomed.


	7. Practice Makes Imperfect

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 5: Practice Makes Imperfect**_

"Stab, twirl, slash," I mumble and do those same movements while holding my staff. I glance at my surroundings, taking a glimpse at what other battle mages are doing.

Sighing, I grip my staff tighter and go into a fighting position before practicing my moves some more. Kick, twirl, and slash… nearly all movements that we were taught had twirling in them. Brighton said it was because battle mages specialized in mobbing – that is, taking on multiple enemies at a time. So if I was to be surrounded by a bunch of monsters, twirling while swinging my staff around would be able to do damage to all of them.

"Good, good," Brighton calls out from the front of the training room. "Now, each of you will stop what you're doing and walk into the center of any of those circles drawn on the ground," he gestures us to turn around, and we do, seeing several white circles painted onto the wooden floor. After staring at them for a few seconds, each one of us walks over into the center of a circle.

"What are we going to be doing?" A battle mage asks out loud.

"You're going to be practicing your magic and movements with training dummies," Brighton answers, walks over to a wall, and presses a button. Immediately, the thick white outline of every circle sinks into the ground and comes back up with multiple training dummies on the edges.

"Now, cast your dark aura, and start training," he commands, and nearly everyone except me casts their spells. I grip my staff tighter, still a bit scared about the prospect of using a spell that will hurt me, even though I've already used it before.

I watch as others around me cast their auras, the familiar dark markings settling themselves on a different part of their body for each. I look down on my staff for a moment before gripping it as tight as I can, then hold it up in front of me.

"**σκοτεινή αύρα****,**" I chant, and squeeze my eyes shut as the pain starts to take over, spreading itself throughout my body.

_This does not hurt,_ I tell myself. _No pain, no gain, I have to prove to _her _that I can do this. _I continue to talk to myself, to try and reason with myself; but most of all, to try and freeze out the pain so I can do this because it is getting really unbearable.

Opening my eyes, I look at my right arm. The dark markings are there, and nothing exploded in my face like the first times I tried to cast the aura.

"It… doesn't, hurt," it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt it doesn't hurt it doesn't it doesn't it doesn't.

…It really doesn't hurt.

Using my other hand to grip the staff tightly, I go into a battle position and close my eyes. _Focus, _I tell myself once again. _Focus._

One second, two seconds, five seconds. I see a few faint specks of blue.

Ten seconds, twenty, thirty, and I start to see blue mist.

Thirty, forty, fifty, sixty. The blue mist, my mana, glows brightly. I lift my staff with both of my hands and start to get ready to take a swing.

_Shift._ The mist takes the shape of fire, and my body burns.

_It doesn't hurt._

_Shift. _The mist takes the shape of lightning, and my body starts to tremble.

_It __**doesn't **__hurt._

_Shift. _The mist takes the shape of fire, and my body feels needles.

_**It doesn't hurt!**_

_Shift,_ lightning, _shift, _fire, _shift_, lightning _shift shift shift shift shift!_

_Shift. _The mist takes shape of a staff with an elaborate design, glowing brightly.

_**Now!**_

Immediately shooting my eyes open while using every inch of my power to force the pain away, I hold my staff tightly and take a step forward. Step, step, spin and smash.

I take a step forward. _Step._

I take another step. _Step._

I spin, I twirl, and land hits on as many training dummies around me as I can. _Spin._

I skid to a halt and turn to the training dummy in front of me. Gripping my staff tighter once again, I bring it above my head and muster out all the strength I can as I bring it down on the training dummy.

_**Smash.**_

Traces of mana, blue and purple, fly out of the staff and the smashed training dummy and disappear into the air as I get blown back from the recoil of the hit, making me let go of the heavy staff and fall on my rear.

"Agh," I quickly wrap my arms around my aching body. The mana, the pain, I can't take it. I look down on my arms, one of them covered by the dark aura.

As soon as I look up, I am already being stared at by people. Some come a little bit closer to take a look at what happened, but still keep their distance. Brighton walks over to me.

"Sion," he has a difficult expression on his face as he surveys this mess. My eyes widen as soon as I look at what I did to the training dummy.

"Crap," I mumble low enough that no one can hear me. Crap, crap, crap, crap. The training dummy is in pieces to the point that it is irreparable. Dang it, how did this happen? I thought that these dummies would be hard enough to be able to take in any hits… but here I ended up smashing one apart.

"Um…" I look at Brighton's expression and start to feel nervous. "I'm sorry?"

"That…" That was what? That was horrible? That was something you shouldn't have done? "…Was amazing."

"Uh," I freeze. "I'm sorry… what?"

"That was amazing," Brighton replies, looking at me.

"I smashed it apart," I tell him. "It's broken and in pieces."

"Yeah," he nods.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No," he shakes his head.

"What?" I am dumbfounded, and my conscience right now is fried. "B-But… I broke it," I repeat. "It's broken. It can't be fixed; it's in pieces. I smashed it apart. I destroyed property, I …–"

"Yes, yes, you broke it, it's broken, it can't be fixed, it's in pieces, you smashed it apart, and you destroyed property," Brighton repeats everything I said to make it clear that he's understood what I said. But, even if he's understood, I still can't understand. When someone breaks property, aren't they supposed to pay for it?

"So…" I blink. "How much do I have to pay?"

"Your Saturday mornings," he replies. At this point, everyone that was staring at me already went back to doing their own training.

"Huh?"

"To pay for the damage you're done, you have to give up your Saturday mornings for more training," Brighton repeats, this time in more detail. "You showed amazing skill just now, even though you've only been here for about two weeks."

"Aren't those with more skill supposed to be given more slack?" I challenge automatically. To be honest, I would rather pay with my own money than give up my Saturday morning, one of the only times I get to sleep in.

"But you broke the training dummy," the battle mage instructor counters back. Agh, he got me on that one. "So make up for it and come in every Saturday morning."

"…Alright," I sigh.

"Good," he smiles. "Go back to training with the remaining dummies you have left. The mess will be cleaned up later."

Nodding, I pick up my staff and stand up, dusting off my track pants. I stare at the broken dummy in front of me. If I were to break another one, does that mean I would also have to give up my Sunday mornings?

…

Nope. Not gonna happen.

* * *

><p>"Try again," Brighton tells me. "Don't make me make you run laps around this place."<p>

Staring at the ground, I yawn, feeling the pain slowly fade. The spell I tried to use wasn't so concentrated since I'm barely awake, so it didn't hurt too much.

"Wake up," he frowns. "Or do I have to make you give up your Sunday mornings?"

"No!" I immediately straighten myself up. "I'll work hard," I gulp. I already had a hard time getting up this Saturday morning, for goodness' sake!

"Then get to it," he crosses his arms and shifts his weight to his other foot. "Your dark aura's already active. So try swinging a few times and then casting the Finisher."

The Finisher, also known as the saw wheel, is an offensive skill that is used when a pool of mana is gathered in the staff. When a battle mage swings their staff, the mana that is stored in there is put to work, so it expands; once it has expanded wide enough, the mana can be used to form a saw wheel to slice more enemies into pieces when released.

It is a powerful skill to use for someone like me who is in their first job and using their first skill book, but the downside is that all the mana that is gathered inside the staff will be released when the saw wheel is made, so in order to attack again, the caster has to channel their mana into the weapon again.

Sighing, I remind myself to be more in control for this. Step, spin, step, swing, finisher. That's the pattern I come up with this time, and after taking some more deep breaths, I grab my staff with both hands and go into a battle position.

Facing the training dummy in front of me, I take one quick step with my left foot, then lift my right foot and do a turn as I swing my staff with all my might and hit the dummies surrounding me. Slamming my right foot onto the ground to stop the spin, I turn to face the training dummy that I was looking at a few seconds ago, and take a swing at it with my staff in my left hand. The dummy receives a cut on its surface, and I quickly switch the staff to my right hand.

Feeling the burning pain seep into my body, I close my eyes as I take a few deep breaths and see that my mana is currently in chaos – like before, it is constantly shape shifting into fire and lightning. I squeeze my eyes shut in a desperate attempt to force some concentration into my mind, and when for a split second, the mana shape shifts into a staff, I take the opportunity to start spinning my staff. But alas, it is very clumsy due to the fact that I'm trying so hard to suppress the way my body is trembling.

"Sion!" I hear my instructor shout out my name, and I snap my eyes open, looking at my staff (which I'm still spinning). It looks completely different from how I thought it would look like, in a bad way. The shape it's making is completely not that of a saw wheel, but a giant blob of energy. I decide to stop myself from spinning the staff any longer.

_**dOn'T, **_a second after I decide to stop, I hear something telling me not to stop.

"Wha…" I find myself deciding to obey. The voice sounds so much like mine that I start to think it's my conscience telling me it's a bad idea. So I don't stop.

_**yEaH, tHaT's It. DoN't StOp. ThAt Is ALOTOFENERGY. DON'T LET IT GO.**_

I continue to spin my staff, but my head feels light and dizzy. The world around me is starting to spin, but even then I don't stop.

"Sion, stop it!" Brighton comes and grabs my wrist, raising my arm and trying to make me stop spinning the staff. The energy ball gets larger as it glows a mesmerizing bright purple, its size now matching the size of my head.

"Sion!"

_**SiOn!**_

Two voices. Two. One from Brighton, my instructor, and one from who knows where – is it my conscience? One shouts my name to tell me to stop, and the other shouts my name to not stop. What do I do?

"Gah…" The pain starts to get more and more unbearable. The energy ball glows so bright that it makes my eyes start to see my surroundings in purple. The world flashes in purple, then back to its original colours, and purple, and again and again.

It burns.

It burns.

"Hah," I can't take it anymore. It burns, hurts too much for me to keep going. I force my mind into a screeching halt and stop the confusion, the dizziness, the headache and the pain… I forcefully push it all away for a second, and with the remaining energy I have, I switch the way I'm gripping my staff to a different one and stop it from spinning.

"I…" Before I'm able to sigh in relief for being able to stop the energy ball from enlarging even more, I realize that even though my staff is no longer spinning, the energy ball is still there.

"Ah…–" The ball explodes in my face before I'm even able to turn to Brighton and ask him for help. Brighton flinches and steps back on instinct, while my weak body remains standing there as the ball explodes. The energy of it is so strong that it pushes my back and slams my body against the training dummy behind me with enough force that the dummy breaks.

Even though training dummies are made of straw and have some cushions around them, when my body is slammed against the one behind me, it feels as if I just got electrocuted by an electric fence.

I fall to the ground with pieces of straw poking my sides. They feel like needles. My five senses seem to have been enhanced for this very moment, as I am able to taste the strong metallic taste of blood in my mouth, smell the salty odor of sweat, see some abnormal and ghostly figures that were never there a few seconds ago smiling down at me, feel the ground beneath me to be too cold, and hear a… –

"Are you okay?"

–…A voice that seems to be too loud for my ears.

"N-No…" I muster out with the small bits of remaining strength my body has left.

And then, I meet with what many people call oblivion.

* * *

><p>"Mh," I groan as I painfully open my eyes. I feel a pack of ice on my forehead.<p>

"Ah, it looks like she's coming back," I hear a kind voice. My blurred vision straightens itself up, and I see Wendelline, the Resistance's nurse, looking down at me with a kind smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible," I respond automatically. "What happened?"

"You overflowed your staff with mana," Brighton steps in. "And this happened," he holds up an extremely familiar staff, which I realize is my own, snapped in half.

"Oh man," I mumble. "I really messed up this time, didn't I?"

"Yeah," he replies, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't chant the words for the spell. Consequently, you couldn't control your mana properly. The fact that your body isn't magically compatible didn't help, either."

"So what do I do?" I feel completely lost.

"Well, even though you broke another dummy and also snapped your staff in half, I'm surprised," Brighton admits.

"How so?"

"Even those that forget to chant their spell don't have their mana go haywire like that. The most that could've happened to them was the mana running out of control and releasing itself from the staff," my instructor explains. "But you – for you, the mana just kept expanding and expanding and it… well, it exploded."

"No kidding," I mutter. That experience was so scary and so painful that I'm almost afraid to pick up a staff again.

"That was an immense amount of energy," he continues explaining, inspecting the broken staff. "Something like that rarely happens. Someone of such low level shouldn't be able to release something as big as that."

"And…?" I kind of already want him to get to the point. I don't need him continuing to explain and repeat that I messed up and that somehow I collected so much mana in my staff that it exploded in my face.

"Why didn't you stop when I told you to?" Brighton looks at me straight in the eye, a critical look on his face that would be enough to make someone flinch.

"Well…" My mind scrambles around as I try to find the right words to use. Brighton looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn't, waiting for my reply.

"I was told, not to stop," I finally explain with some difficulty.

"What?" He looks troubled and confused. "Who? I would've heard it."

"Someone," I say. "I don't know. I couldn't see who it was."

"You're not making this up, are you?"

"At this state, I don't think I'd be able to make something up," I shoot back, suddenly feeling snappy. I immediately try to calm myself down and continue to explain myself. "Whatever it was, I couldn't see it. So I thought it was probably my conscience telling me, or my gut feeling. Who doesn't listen to their gut feeling?"

Brighton looks like he's deep in thought – troubled and confused still, but added to that I can see some worry in his expression. He sighs.

"Alright," he says. "Maybe you're just tired. But we do need to discuss what you will be doing to make up for this."

"What would that be?" Am I finally going to get charged for something?

"Come here on Sunday mornings too."

…

…

"Good _grief…" _I whisper murderously. But it's low enough that no one can hear.

Damn it, what the heck happened to me mentally swearing _not_ to damage something so that I wouldn't have to give up my Sunday mornings? How am I supposed to get _any_ sleep whatsoever now?

Damn it.

"…Really?" I weakly ask with futile hope that he was joking.

"Really," the battle mage instructor confirms with a nod. "What you did isn't normal. If possible, it's best if we can find a way to fix this, and also if we're able to find out just how you're able to bring out such a large amount of mana even though your body isn't even compatible with magic and shouldn't be working with it."

"Fine," I give up. His choice seems final, so I don't bother to try and argue. Also because even though I'm probably one of the weakest battle mages at this point, I still want to look like a model student, or trainee.

"That's it," he turns to leave. "See you tomorrow morning."

On his way out of the room, I'm able to hear him mumble, "Is it me, or did she get worse with practice?"

Ignoring the rude remark that I probably wasn't supposed to hear, I fall into the bed and sigh as soon as Brighton's out of the room, turning and curling myself up in a ball. Maybe it won't be so bad? I try to think optimistically like usual.

…

But then I remember that I have many tests coming up in school, and I have to get up at 7:00 A.M tomorrow to face my newfound fear: the fear of being hurt by my own magic. Not only that, but I also have to work much harder than before while trying my best to ignore the remark that Brighton made on his way out of the infirmary.

"_Is it me, or did she get worse with practice?"_

I curl my hand into a fist and punch the headboard of the bed, but I find myself withdrawing the fist afterwards and rubbing it with my other hand because it _hurt. _I groan.

"Oh, _damn it._"

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>So, here's chapter 5, the chapter in which I start to introduce some chaos in Sion's life as a battle mage xD

This is the chunk that was supposed to go after the filler chapter, but decided to cut out. As you can see there's still information in there about how magic works in my story, and so forth. Again, I had also originally planned to make this longer, but I felt that it was probably best to stop right here.

Brighton's such a great teacher, isn't he? *looks at the remark that he made at the very end*  
>…Yup, great teacher. Really encouraging.<p>

Anyway, like always, any kind of review is appreciated. Criticism, comments, questions, demands that I need to start putting sweet treats the end of each chapter to attract reviews (lol), are all greatly welcomed.

P.S: For those wondering about last chapter, Taika is Greek in real life.


	8. Down the Memory Lane

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 6: Down the Memory Lane**_

"Oh man…" I groan and sigh, stretching as I walk down the streets of Edelstein. It has been about a week since I started to train on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and the whole thing has really done a number on me.

"Cold…" Shivering slightly, I turn my head to one side when I feel a sudden rush of wind blow north of where I am standing. As my hair settles down after the wind rushes by, I start to look at the road in front of me, finding it interesting for no apparent reason.

While my mind desperately shuffles around to find the reason as to why I have taken an interest in the road, everything around me – except for the road up ahead – seems to be spinning around. But I pay no attention to it. I lightly close my eyes, trying to work with my mind to see if I can –…

…_**FiNd ThE aNsWeR…**_

–... To why I'm interested in this road, and also why it looks familiar, even though I –…

–…_**hAvE nEvEr BeEn HeRe BeFoRe…**_

–… And after a minute of thinking, I start to believe that the best way to figure it out is to –…

–…_**WaLkDoWnThAtRoAd…**_

… After taking just one step, I stop so I can give it a second thought––

_**WHY DO YOU DOUBT YOURSELF?**_

My mind comes to a screeching halt, like two cars loudly crashing against each other because the one up ahead stopped too suddenly. I open my eyes slowly, and stare up at the road ahead of me once again. And once again, the world around me seems to swirl and spin and twist, the voices of the people in it jumbled together into nonsense – almost as if they were working together to cast a powerful, apocalyptic spell.

I can't help it.

I can't stop it.

I just keep wondering. And wondering. And wondering. And then deciding…

_**THE ANSWER IS RIGHT THERE.**_

… That I need to know.

I need to know, but _why_ is it that the _need_ to _know_ seems _so_ much stronger than before? _Why_ do I _feel_ like I _need_ to know?

No, that's not it. That question is out of question. I actually shouldn't even be asking myself that anymore.

Ignoring the jumbled up nonsense that I still hear around me, I clench my fists and gather up my determination, taking firm steps and refusing to look back.

_**DoN't LoOk BaCk, **_because I'll hesitate.

_**DoN't hEsItAtE, **_because I'll become weak.

_**DoN't Be WeAk, **_because I'll…

…

Because I'll what?

I bite my bottom lip. Don't think. Calm down. Don't think… and just walk.

* * *

><p>"Whoa," I blink. The unknown road that seemed so familiar before leads me to a pretty unexpected place. I thought that I'd be walking into a part of the forest, or that I'd be walking into some weird, secret bad-side of town that I'd never heard of before.<p>

But instead, it brings me to a beautiful field of flowers. Roses, lilies, daisies, there are all kinds of flowers and plants, and a singular, giant tree stands amidst the sea of colours. It has the greenest leaves I have ever seen, and the thick trunk is the liveliest shade of brown that could exist.

I start to walk down to the tree because I feel compelled to do many things: I feel compelled to go and admire how beautiful it all is, compelled to sit down by the tree and relax – but most of all, I feel compelled to find the answer to an important question.

The thing is… what _is_ that question?

"Ah," I gasp softly once I reach the tree. Underneath it, I see a girl. No, a woman. She looks young. If it wasn't for that mature smile on her face, I would've thought that she was around my age. She's slightly taller than me, and has brown curly hair that goes past her shoulders. I look up to inspect her eyes…

"Wha…"

…And see my own in hers.

She continues to look forward. It's almost as if she doesn't know I'm here. I take a few careful and slow steps, and as soon as I'm about to take another one, she lightly turns her head and faces me.

"Um," I gulp. "Hello."

No response. Instead, she gives me a wide, beautiful smile. The sincerity in her eyes and the liveliness in her smile somehow remind me of my own smile. Or more like my own self.

"How… are you today?" I try to start up a conversation, feeling awkward and out of place.

Still no response. She turns her body to face me completely, and slowly closes her eyes. Her smile still lingers.

"Miss? Are you alright?"

And yet again, she ignores me. But when she opens her eyes and looks at me straight in the eye, still smiling, I find myself unable to talk, feeling overwhelmed by her beauty. After a few minutes of staring at each other, she finally opens her mouth, and speaks,

_**YoU… hAvE gRoWn…**_

Her voice is just as beautiful as she is. Her voice is beautiful – but at the same time, it sounds so… haunting.

What does she mean? What does she mean, 'you have grown'?

"What do you…?" I start, but suddenly there's a huge rush of wind that forces me to shut my eyes.

When the wind disappears, and I open my eyes, the woman is gone – and so is the beautiful scenery.

…_**HEAVEN…**_

* * *

><p>"Are you alright?" A strong, mature voice snaps me out of my reverie. I realize that I'm now standing in the middle of a dead field. It looks like the field that I was in not too long ago, but the tree has no leaves and the grass is a dull yellow compared to the lively green it used to be. There are few flowers here, and most of them have already withered.<p>

"Miss?" Crap, I forgot someone was talking to me. I immediately turn to face whoever was calling out to me.

"Oh, uh, yes?" I ask in a bit of a panic. The man in front of me is quite old – he looks as if he is between his forties or fifties. His hair is brown with some streaks of white, and his dark eyes are covered by rectangular glasses. Despite the kind light in his eyes, he looks quite distressed.

"Are you alright?" He asks me the same question that brought me back to reality not too long ago.

"I'm… okay," I reply, continuing to inspect his appearance. He looks familiar, but where have I seen him before?

"Are you sure? You seemed to be in quite a trance back there," the old man continues to press on further, and I shake my head.

"I'm sure. No worries," I tell him in a reassuring voice.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" He looks up at the sky. "Not many people come by here."

"I don't know," I reply in honesty. "I guess I just got curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," he quotes and looks at me. "You should be more careful."

"I'll… keep that in mind," I look away. "If you don't mind, what are you doing here, as well?" I ask him once I sense a conversation starting to take place.

"You really are a curious one," he comments, raising a thick eyebrow. "I'm just on a trip down the memory lane."

"I see," I let out a breath and start to look around this place, trying to figure out what the heck it was that happened. How did that lovely field of flowers turn into such a depressing place? And in merely a few seconds, no less?

"My daughter loved to play here when she was smaller," the old man starts, and I instinctively turn to look at him. His voice carries a nostalgic tone. "She loved trying to climb the tree and making crowns out of flowers."

I find myself unable to reply. His eyes seem to be filled with sorrow and loneliness, his small smile looking like a forced one.

"I can't believe I was so weak," he continues. I continue to look at him, shifting uncomfortably. I've never had a stranger spill out their guts to me like that. "Even though I was the council president back then… I couldn't stop them."

Bingo. The former council president, Albert. I remember now. I've seen him walking around town before, talking with some watchmen of the Black Wings, always holding a package. Not like I've talked to him before now, but people liked to talk about him often.

"I'm sorry," I muster out, feeling like I should say something, but unable to find a good response. No matter how bad I feel about him talking this way, there's nothing I can do to relieve him of whatever pain he's feeling.

Albert just shakes his head sadly. "_I'm _sorry," he says. "It must've felt strange, right? Standing here and listening to an old man like me wallow in pity."

I don't say anything in return, because I have nothing to say.

"I should get going now," Albert says, and turns to leave. I watch as he makes his way out of this place.

_**iS tHeRe AnYtHiNg I cAn Do To HeLp?**_

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I say automatically. He turns and looks at me in the eye.

"Eh?"

_**I'lL lIsTeN tO yOu.**_

"I'll listen to you," I look at the floor, wondering what the heck made me say that.

"It'll be boring," he says.

_**i DoN't CARE.**_

"I don't care," I repeat, looking up at him. "It's okay. I'm a curious one, after all."

He stares at me, not saying anything. I look down at the floor again, feeling uneasy and unable to understand what I just did.

"It has been ten years," he starts after a few minutes. "Since they took her. My daughter, Gabrielle."

His voice sounds almost desperate as he speaks. It's as if he's been dying to talk to someone.

"This place was so full of life. And it seemed even more so whenever she played here," he turns around, his back now to my face. "She lived seventeen years filled with joy."

Seventeen years old… that's kind of close to my age. Two years apart, to be exact. He mentioned that his daughter was taken ten years ago; does that mean she was taken when she was seventeen, and that she is now twenty seven?

"I was able to live without my wife because Gabrielle was there, with me," Albert continues, his voice carrying a small flutter. It sounds like he wants to cry. "When they took her, everything that I did seemed to have lost meaning."

I shiver, the depressing mood of his story starting to get to me.

"And this place, once beautiful, seemed to have died along with her, too."

"She's… dead?" I ask out loud and then feel like smacking myself in the face. Why did I have to ask him something like that?

"No," he replies quickly, and then takes out a small package from his jacket. "She's still alive. I've been trying to have some of her belongings delivered to her these past few years, but it seems they no longer want to help me."

"The mines are such a rough place," Albert states, looking at the package in his hands. "I couldn't stand imagining the fact that she might be living in rags right now, so I tried to give this to her."

The mines. She's in the mines. I am suddenly filled with a feeling of excitement. I'm part of the Resistance now, so there's a chance that somehow I will end up in there one day. Or if I'm lucky and train hard enough, I could get there in a few days through a mission.

"I'll deliver it for you," I say. He turns his head, looking at me with a shocked look in his face.

"You can't do that," he says, his voice critical. "Do you know how dangerous it is?"

"I know of a way," I insist. "I promise. It'll be delivered," I start to walk over to him. "It should only take a week at most."

Albert looks at me in hesitation. He looks at his package and then at me, back and forth. After a few minutes or so, he takes my wrist and places the package on my hand. "Be careful."

I give him a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright," I tell him. "I promised, after all."

He returns the smile, mouths a 'thank you', and then turns to leave, his expression filled with relief. Deciding that it is also time for me to leave, I wait until Albert is out of sight and start to make my way out of this place. However, I find myself lightly bumping into someone.

"Ack," I take a few steps back in instinct. "Sorry."

"The package," the man I bumped into is lean and tall. He has short blond hair and brown eyes. The emblem on his hat and the black clothing he is wearing immediately makes me recognize him as a Black Wing.

"S-Sir," I say in hastily, looking at the package and at him.

"Give me the package," he says, his voice surprisingly soft. "I'll deliver it."

"Umm…" I don't know what to say. I've seen him before around town as well, working as one of the watchmen of Edelstein. I don't know what to do. Should I trust him? Part of me just wants to turn and run away as fast as possible.

"I'll deliver the package," he insists, looking at it.

_**GiVe It To HiM.**_

I look up at him and see his eyes. They remind me of Albert's – filled with some form of desperation and at the same time, some kindness. Without thinking, I slowly hand him the package. The gently takes it and looks at me as if thanking me.

"It's my job," he tells me. "Don't worry."

I continue to stare at him and nod lightly. Even though I can't comprehend why I decided to give him the package, he looked like he could be trusted. The reassuring tone in his voice and the gentleness that his eyes carry make him seem like a good person, even though he's a member of the Black Wings.

"Take care," the watchman mumbles, carefully pocketing the package and walking away.

* * *

><p>"Melanie!" I turn to look at whoever has called out to me, and see Nolan waving at me from a distance. It has been a few minutes since I got back to town from that dead field. I smile and wave back, making my way to him.<p>

"What's up?" I ask him.

"The sky," he replies with a smile.

"Ha-ha, really funny," I feign laughter, a sarcastic tone in my voice.

"I know," Nolan replies, puffing out his chest proudly. We both burst out in laughter.

"So, really, what are you doing?"

"Nothin', just wandering around since my other buddies are busy," he shrugs. "What about you?"

"Just taking a walk," I reply. "It's a Sunday and there's no homework from school, so there's not much to do."

"Can I walk with you?"

"Why not?" I nod, and we both start to walk around random places in town.

"You seem really tired these days," he comments.

"I am," I sigh.

"Why?"

"Oh you know. The usual," I don't reveal too much to him. Being part of the Resistance is a secret, after all.

"Secretive as always, huh?" I don't respond to that, because it's the truth. I've been hiding a lot ever since that incident at the mines a few weeks ago.

"I'm hungry," trying to change the subject, I stop and point to the bakery. He nods and we make our way into it.

* * *

><p>"Are you seriously going to eat all of that?" Nolan asks me as I put down a paper bag filled with chocolate croissants and sit down on the bench.<p>

"You know you can have some too," I tell him.

"How thoughtful," he comments, sitting down and taking a croissant. We both eat in silence, watching the wind blow fallen leaves around.

After finishing up a few croissants, I get ready to take another croissant from the bag, but Nolan stops me. "You have some chocolate in your face…" he uses his fingertip and wipes away the chocolate close to my mouth.

I stare at him, feeling my face heat up. "Oh," he notices what he has just done, and his face turns a shade of pink. We stare at each other uneasily, not saying anything. I look down at my hand, and when I look up at him, his face is now only a few inches away from mine.

"Um," his face continues to get closer. "Nolan."

He doesn't listen. "Nolan," I call out to him, my voice now more firm. "It's done."

"Ah," he snaps out of whatever he was doing. Noticing how close his face is to mine, he turns a deep shade of red, but doesn't move it. I inch away from him.

"Sorry," I hear him mumble. I don't say anything in return – instead, remembering the fact that we once used to be in a relationship.

I left out a soft sigh, take out one croissant, and start to eat it while continuing to stare off into space. Nolan just looks down on the floor in silence.

"We never really kissed," he says quietly.

"I know," I say without looking at him.

"It ended too quickly."

"I know."

"How…" he clenches his fist and unclenches it, looking defeated. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know why we broke up?" Nolan frowns. He looks upset.

"If you're asking me that, doesn't it mean you don't know either?"

My reply leaves Nolan in silence for a few minutes. "Can we try again?"

"No," I say automatically.

"Why?"

"It's still too soon," I look at him. "It has only been two months since we broke up."

"Too soon?" He stands up. "Then you _do_ know why we broke up."

I continue to look at him. "Yeah," I admit. "You're right. I guess I do know."

He sits back down in defeat. "That's why you didn't want to kiss, right?"

"Yeah," I finally say after pondering over the question. I can tell he disagrees with me when he decides to get up and leave. I simply watch his retreating form until it's out of sight.

The memory of my confession to him about three months ago lingers in my mind. I remember that I was a bit stupid to confess to him, especially since I had just turned fifteen back then. Even though I was the one to confess and he felt the same way, we never kissed. We never really talked about it, either. And after one month into our relationship, a moment similar to this one happened. He got too close, and I pushed him away.

Of course, it wasn't until a few days later that I realized that I never kissed him because I wasn't ready for it. I deducted that if I wasn't ready to kiss him, then that meant that I really wasn't ready for a relationship.

So I broke up with him.

We stopped talking for about a month, avoiding each other at school. I thought we'd continue to avoid each other and then eventually forget about each other altogether. But I was proven wrong when Kylie decided to invite him to our little sneak-in on the mines a few weeks ago – exactly one month after the Big Bang occurred.

I sigh, leaning back on the bench. From now on, things between me and him are sure to be more awkward than ever.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Here's a chapter dedicated to part of Sion's past. Kind of. I felt that there were some things that I still needed to fill in on for the readers, so I decided to take a break from the action and everything, and instead write up a chapter that hopefully answers some questions. Like for example, why Sion felt awkward when she saw Nolan at the mines in chapter 1.

Some parts (like the beginning parts) might seem a bit confusing and insignificant right now, but I'll tell you something: don't forget about them. They're going to come into place later, and are actually more important than some might think.

Anyways, that's all I have to say. I hope this wasn't too boring :P


	9. Anger

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own MapleStory.**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Castle in the Air<span>  
><strong>_**CHAPTER 7: Anger**_

"Go…!" I mutter under my breath as I turn on my heel, briefly spin my staff, and swing it forward.

"**τελειωτής****!**" I yell out, casting the Finisher and biting my bottom lip as hard as I can to resist the pain as much as I can. The saw wheel made from the leftover mana of my previous attack shoots forward, slamming the moving training dummy and breaking it apart.

I hear whirring sounds behind me and I immediately tighten the grip on my staff and swing as I turn around, hitting the training dummy that made its way behind me. I follow with a series of swings, treating the staff as if it were a sword. In the split second that the training dummy stops moving, I jump back.

Suddenly, I recall the memory from a week ago, when Nolan stood up and left because he disagreed with me about still being too young to date, giving me an intense glare as he turned and ran.

Anger starts to seep inside me – no words were said that time, but it still angers me. It angers me and I see no reason for feeling angry so I grit my teeth, swirling the staff to gather the leftover mana around me and then spinning it until the outline of a saw wheel is visible enough. I swing my staff forward.

"**τελειωτής****!**" The saw wheel rolls forward, and in less than five seconds, there is a loud smash and the dummy in front of me breaks into pieces. I close my eyes for a few seconds to prevent the broken off pieces of wood from flying into my eyes.

When I open my eyes, I let out a frustrated sigh, placing my palm to my forehead. Calm down, now.

"Sion," Brighton calls out to me. I walk over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Your morning training this Saturday is done," he smiles. "You can go now. You did well."

"Did I?" I mumble loud enough for him to hear.

"Yeah," he claps his hand together, letting out a small sigh. "It's a vast improvement from a few weeks ago. You've really been doing well these past few days."

"Does that mean I can have one of my weekend days off?" I tentatively ask.

"Nope," he shakes his head.

"Dang," I mutter. He chuckles. The light in his eyes tells me that he wants to know what I did to improve this much. I open my mouth to speak, but quickly close it, deciding that it's probably best not to tell him that I've been acting on my anger these few days.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then," Brighton says, waving his hand. I nod and turn around to leave.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sion!" I turn around and see a girl a few years younger than me running to catch up. I stop walking.<p>

"Hey," I greet. "How have you been, Vita?"

A few days ago, I encountered Vita, the test subject I rescued, again.

"Good," she smiles. "What are you going to do now, Sion?"

"Call me Melanie."

"Okay, Melanie."

"I'm going to get a drink. You know, sit around and take a break. Training's really tiring," I sigh.

"Yeah? Can I join you, then?" She asks me.

"Why not?" I nod, and we both start to walk.

"Is magic hard to use?" Vita looks up at me.

"For someone like me, yes," I reply.

"What do you mean someone like you?" Oh, right. She doesn't know that my body is magically incompatible.

"My body just doesn't like it, I guess," I shrug. "So what have you been doing these days?"

"Well," she fiddles around. "Claudine decided to let me try making some medicine."

"You know how to make medicine?"

"Yeah," Vita says. "Spending a few years in a lab with nothing to do left me with no choice but to just watch as the professor concocted different substances," she looks away uneasily.

"How's it going with the medicine, then?"

"I'm done making one," she replies. "But that medicine is just a sample. I can't start distributing it until someone tests it and makes sure it's not harmful."

"Have you found someone willing to test it?"

Vita shakes her head. "I've been trying to find someone these past few days. But no one wants to."

"I see," I look up at the ceiling.

"So," she looks at me curiously. "What's it like to be a battle mage?"

"Well…"

* * *

><p>After having a small talk with Vita, I decided to go outside and get some ice cream. It wasn't long before I bumped into Crescent and after greeting each other, she decided to join me on my little trip to the ice cream cart.<p>

"What flavour will you order?" I ask her.

"Considering vanilla," she replies. "You?"

"I think I'm going to…" I start, but trail off once I catch sight of someone familiar, stopping and staring.

"Melanie?"

"Hey, Crescent. Do you know who that is?" I weakly lift a finger and point to a familiar tall blond man with dark eyes. It is that man from a week ago who took the package from me and said he'd deliver it to that girl… what was her name? Gabby? Gabriella? I can't seem to remember.

"Him?" She squints her eyes for a second, nodding. "That's watchman Wonny."

"Wonny…"

"Yeah," her voice lowers into a whisper. "From what I've heard, he only joined the Black Wings because he was in a relationship with this girl."

"Did she join the Black Wings?" I whisper back, trying to look as normal as possible while at it.

"No," she shakes her head. "I think he was with Gabrielle. You know, the old council president's daughter…"

Ah, Gabrielle. Bingo.

"Wasn't she… you know…?"

Crescent looks around for patrol robots and then turns to me again. "The _cockroaches confiscated her cellphone?_ Yeah,"she replies, using a 'secret language' that all recruits of the Resistance learn. She is confirming that Gabrielle did indeed get taken away by the Black Wings.

"Then," I gulp, looking away from him even though he hasn't seen me and probably doesn't remember me. "He's not truly… one of them, is he?"

She shakes her head again. "I don't think so, no. But rumors say that at 10 P.M, he goes by the mansion and waits there," her expression suddenly changes into a playful one. "Why don't you go check it out?"

_**YoU sHoUlD dO iT.**_

While I know that she is joking when she says that, my mind actually considers it. Insane? Probably. But something inside me just urges me to go and do it.

"Yeah, right," I reply sarcastically, smiling, even though on the inside I have already decided that I will indeed go to the mansion at ten and check it out.

Crescent laughs. "Well, enough of that. The ice cream cart's right over there, so while we make our way there, why don't you tell me what flavour you're going to get like you were supposed to?"

"Right," I sigh. "Chocolate."

"Chocolate?"

"What's wrong with it?" I look at her. "Why do you look so shocked?"

"Hm," she places a finger to her chin. "I thought someone like you would choose something more sophisticated. Like green tea."

"I _could_ order both, you know…"

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. I had already finished my homework and whatnot, and with nothing else left to do, I went into the Resistance's hideout and actually did some training out of my own will because I got so bored. After that, I went back to the orphanage, threw myself on the bed, and stared at the ceiling for at least two hours.<p>

But I have no idea why I did that.

Staring at the ceiling for two hours indeed does no good. But somehow, some way, I lost the will to do anything as soon as I got back. And I actually don't even care that I wasted two hours of my life by doing that, either. Maybe it was because it felt way shorter than two hours, or because I felt different while I did that.

Different, in a… different, special, sort of way.

You could almost say that during those two hours, everything felt non-existent.

Sighing, I roll over, sitting up on my bed and looking at the clock. It is nine forty. I stand up – although with a bit of difficulty from remaining laid down on the bed for so long – and make my way out of my room, not bothering to change.

I manage to sneak out of the orphanage with no difficulty. Having lived here for five years has given me a lot of experience when it comes to the way people here do things.

As soon as I'm out, I feel the strong winds blowing on my face. Even though I'm wearing long pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, I don't feel anything. Well, maybe I do. But it feels numb. Everything does. And not because of the cold, either. It's almost as if I was this way from the very beginning, even though I know that's not the case.

I keep walking anyways.

Eventually, I start to get closer to the mansion. And the closer I start to get, the more cautious I start to become, constantly looking around for patrol robots.

_**tHeY wIlL fIlM yOuR eVeRy MoVe.**_

The closer I get, the more paranoid I become.

_**ThEy ShOuLd Be AvOiDeD aT aLl CoStS.**_

The closer I get, the more … … … I become.

_**DESTROY iF yOu CaN't HeLp It…**_

The closer I get… the … … … I become.

_**DESTROY iF tHeY fInD yOu BeCaUsE,**_

Closer… … … I, become…

_**YOUCAN'TRUNAWAY.**_

I gasp, suddenly feeling as if something is whispering right into my ear, and immediately turn around.

There's nothing.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, this feeling is soon overridden when paranoia shoots up my spine.

And I can suddenly feel again. It's cold.

So, _so,_ cold.

Gritting my teeth, I reinforce my will and keep walking. To try and avoid being caught by any patrol robots, I slow down and start to hide behind walls and objects, carefully and silently running between each of these. While I do feel nervous for doing this, I also feel a little confident that I won't be caught since recruits of the Resistance are also trained when it comes to infiltration.

Thankfully, it doesn't take too long for me to get to the mansion. Hiding behind a nearby tree, I squint my eyes and peek out, trying to see if watchman Wonny is there. There may be some streetlights around here, but not enough for me to be able to see properly.

When I see the familiar black clothing, blond hair, and serious eyes, I immediately am able to tell that Crescent's rumor was true – watchman Wonny does come here every night.

_**LOOK OUT! IT'S A PATROL ROBOT!**_

Yelping, I jump out of my hiding spot, tripping on a pebble, and then falling face first onto the ground. When I swiftly turn around to see if there's any sign of a patrol robot, there's nothing there.

My mind then slowly starts to register that it was just my imagination and there's no patrol robot looking at me, but as soon as the feeling of relief starts to seep in, I hear footsteps getting closer and closer. I look up.

"…And what may you be doing here?" The person talking to me is watchman Wonny, who saw me fall from behind that tree. His voice sounds a bit hostile.

"I was…" I start, looking around desperately and trying to process a lie. I'm not used to lying. "I am…"

"Well?" His eyes narrow.

"T-Taking, a… a… a walk! And then I had to, um, use the washroom but…!" I quickly clamp a hand over my mouth. What am I telling him?

"…You needed to use the washroom after taking a walk?" Watchman Wonny looks slightly amused, raising an eyebrow and looking at the tree. I suppress the urge to slap my palm against my forehead.

"Huh," he mumbles. "Out of all excuses I've heard from people who were doing just what you were…"

"S-Sir?" I blink, hearing him trail off.

"You just came because of the rumors, didn't you?" He looks at me, his expression sharp.

"E-Eh?" I gulp, unable to formulate a reply.

"You're not the only one that has come to spy on me before," the blond haired man sighs, turning his back on me. "If you really must know, though, the rumor's true. Is that a good enough answer for you?"

"The… then, you're not, really… one of them?" I ask quietly and slowly get up. He turns to look at me again.

"That's none of your business," he scoffs. "Leave or I will make you."

His words startle me, and I flinch slightly. But before I'm able to turn and start leaving, a laser shoots out of somewhere and drills a small hole into the tree.

Gasping in surprise, my eyes widen in panic as I start to look around for the source of that laser. As if answering to my call, a security guard robot comes out from a dark corner, holding an electric racket and a baton. And then another one comes out, and then another, and another, until they start to come out of rather random places.

"What…" I bite my bottom lip, trying to process the situation.

"Damn," Wonny bites out, reaching into his pocket and taking out a gun. "Stay behind, kid."

Before I'm able to say anything, he points his gun to a nearby robot, and shoots it.

That was the mark of the start of a full-blown battle – and the first one I've witnessed with my own eyes, at that.

* * *

><p>"Sir!" I rush to watchman Wonny's side when a few lasers brush his sides and legs, making him collapse to the ground.<p>

"Run, you!" He barks at me. "Why are you still here?"

I wish I could say that I wanted to help or that I couldn't leave him behind. But in truth, I didn't run because I was scared.

"Those robots work for you guys, don't they?" I ask him in a panic as the patrol robots start to get closer. "Can't you stop them?"

"I'm not the one that sends them out," he snarls. "Stop being such a burden and go!"

His harsh words strike me hard, and I look around. Even though I really want to run right now, I know that as soon as I move, they will all try to shoot me down. And leaving a wounded person behind with these dangerous robots would definitely make me feel guilty afterwards.

"What are you waiting for?" Watchman Wonny screams at me as he looks at the robots nearing us. "Stupid brat!"

He starts to curse and insult me after that. Every insult after another that he yells out starts to make me feel angrier and angrier.

"Did you come here just to _die?" _He barks at me once again.

I can't take it anymore.

"Damn you!" I snap at him, fuming. He looks at me incredulously.

"Are you going to argue with me?" The detestable man in front of me exclaims in a threatening voice, and I grit my teeth.

"Damn you!" I shout again in anger before starting to yell in some colourful language. "Are you serious? You're going to threaten _me, _when these things are threatening _you,_ and _I'm_ the only one that could possibly do something to help?"

"Kid –…" he starts, but I shut him up by raising a hand.

"No, _damn you!"_ I scream and then continue my string of insults.

"Watch it!" Wonny screams. Something is clearly behind me. Whirling around, I glare at the robot and swiftly dodge a laser and a swing of the electric racket coming my way, my anger clouding up all the fear I felt not too long ago.

Smacking my lips together, I stop cursing and close my eyes before opening them again, a feeling of confidence overtaking me. "I'll show him how it's done…"

"**σκοτεινή αύρα****!**" I lift my right arm as I cast the spell for dark aura. The mana swirls around me, goes from blue to purple, and settles on my arm. The feeling of determination rules out the pain that I feel from casting the spell.

Taking a few deep breaths, I dodge a few more lasers coming my way while trying to survey the situation and find a solution, quickly realizing that it was useless to cast dark aura because I don't have a weapon and I haven't learned how to fight without one yet.

"Agh!" I hear a grunt of pain from behind me and turn around, noticing that the lasers have brushed watchman Wonny on different parts of his body.

One thing to do before facing these things: Get him to a safe spot.

But how?

Think, think. How can you get him out of here, and without being shot by the lasers? I desperately search my mind for an answer, though it is slightly hard to do so when there are laser-shooting robots nearing you.

"_Today, you will be training your eyes to see mana in your surroundings."_

Something in my mind clicks. I turn to Wonny. "Hey, use that gun and save me some time. I have a plan."

He opens his mouth to argue, but the look I give him has him shut it. Nodding, he picks up his gun on the ground and starts to shoot the robots to keep them as far away as possible. I position myself in front of him just to try and make sure that more lasers won't hit him, even though it means I might be using my body as a shield.

"_It is important to be able to see mana in your surroundings and around you, because that is what will allow you to use a skill that all mages possess: teleport."_

I take some more deep breaths and calm myself down as I close my eyes.

"_First, you have to be able to see your own mana. I'm sure many of you can do that by now."_

I see the blue fog that is my mana in a black background, and do my best to concentrate even in this desperate situation. The blue fog becomes as clear as it can get.

"_Focus the mana into your eyes."_

Instead of opening my eyes, I keep them closed and start to think of eyes. The blue fog shape shifts into eyes, and I open them right when that happens.

I can hear and see the sound of bullets hitting metal, being able to tell that Wonny is shooting the robots to keep them away. He's constantly rocking from side to side, trying to dodge the lasers and succeeding only half of the time.

Ignoring that, I look down and my eyes search the ground.

"_Everything surrounding us has mana in it. There will always be a certain part in that object or surrounding that has more mana in it – that's what we call a point of concentration."_

I desperately search for the 'point of concentration' on the ground while trying to remain as calm as possible. It's not long before the robots start trying to shoot me as well, and I narrow my eyes, dodging the lasers and I continue to search for it.

"Found it," I mumble, spotting a blue crater in the far distance, right next to a trash can.

"_By finding the point of concentration on the ground, you can teleport to that certain point. That is the limitation of using teleport: you can only teleport to that point."_

I turn and kneel right next to Wonny.

"What are you doing?" He looks at me incredulously. I look at him and start to survey his figure.

"_You can also teleport someone with you if you grab their point of concentration."_

I see a blue dot right above his elbow on the arm he's using to hold his gun. I grab it and grip it tightly, narrowing my eyes as I focus my vision on that crater in the far distance.

"**Teleport,"** I whisper, glad that I was taught how to teleport a few days ago, and that it's one of the only spells that doesn't need to be casted in Taika.

In a whim, the two of us disappear, and appear right next to that trash can.

"Sorry," I mutter, looking at him from the corner of my eye. "That took a while."

Wonny doesn't say anything, instead looking at me. I look back at him and notice that he's more wounded than he was before. He must've been brushed by a few lasers while he was buying me time.

"Sorry," I repeat, shoving him behind the trash can. "I'll take care of the rest."

Picking up a metal pole lying nearby, I channel my mana into it and run forward.

I dodge a few lasers and wince in pain when I feel a laser brushing my shoulder. Feeling that I've gotten close enough to the robot that shot me, I swing the pole forward and slash the robot. Despite the fact that it didn't do much damage, it steps back and starts to go haywire, shooting lasers everywhere and forcing me to use most of my concentration for dodging.

Looking at the robots, I realize that they are all standing in a circular pattern. I break out in another run, clumsily dodging the lasers and position myself in the center of that pattern. This immediately lures the robots closer to me and I allow myself a smile. Battle mages hit multiple enemies.

Readying the pole, I start to swing while spinning, stopping to hit the ones that are closer to me and then continuing to spin.

"**τελειωτής****!**" I yell as I slam my foot down, swirling the pole, spinning it once, and sending forward a saw wheel. The robot that it hit explodes in half.

Turning to face the other robots while continuing to dodge the lasers, I run forward and yelp in pain when more lasers brush me, but I continue running and then releasing a string of attacks.

There were six robots, and I got rid of one, leaving it at five. I have to find a way to get rid of the remaining five robots, but I don't exactly have an idea. It seems I will just have to wing it.

The robot in front of me swings the baton and I duck, using the pole to smack its thin legs, causing it to fall over. Channeling mana into the tip of the pole, I get up and stab downwards, killing the robot.

Four more left.

"Ack!" I yell out when I feel something hitting my side, making me fall over and roll on the ground a few times. I quickly get up, suppressing the pain on my side and see that a robot hit me from behind.

"Damn you!" I run forward clumsily and start to swing; starting to spin while doing so after more robots come near me.

I fall back when a laser from behind brushes my side, and the robot in front of me raises its electric racket, ready to strike me with it.

A bullet shoots its glowing security light, shattering it with a loud sound. The robot in front of me then goes haywire, swinging the racket and baton while shooting out lasers into random places, hitting some of the other robots on the way.

Whirling my head around, I see that Wonny shot the robot from behind, and I nod in thanks, even though he can't see me.

Getting up, I straighten myself and then look at the other security robots. The other robot went haywire because its light was shot, leaving it unable to identify the intruder. That's what I have to do.

A robot comes to me and swings its baton. I put up the pole I'm holding and parry the attack a few times, do a turn, swing upwards and then bring down the pole, hitting and shattering the light on top of it. Before it's able to go crazy, I stab through the robot and refrain from pulling out the pole in fear I'll get electrocuted. Instead, I take the baton that it is holding and use that as my weapon.

Three more left.

The sound of two bullets cuts through the air, and before I know it, the lights of two of the robots have been shattered. The two machines, which have gone berserk, start to attack and shoot everywhere except me. Taking advantage of this situation, I turn and run towards the only sane robot left in the trio, dodging lasers and then parrying blows with it.

I decide to use the same strategy I used for the previous robot I took down – I do a spin after parrying one more blow, swing upwards and bring down the baton as hard as possible, shattering the light. Instead of stabbing it, however, I decide to do something different.

"**τελειωτής****,**" I mumble, sending forward a saw wheel and then quickly retreating to the other side – where the two insane robots are – as the robot explodes in half.

Knowing well that these robots can't do much anymore, I take a risk and grab one of the robot's batons. Then, I channel mana into my foot, kicking as hard as I can at the robot's legs, and snatch the baton from it. With two batons on my hand, I use the one I was holding and stab through the robot with it, running toward the other robot and parrying attacks while dodging the lasers and the electric racket with ease.

Channeling mana into my arms to reinforce them, I block an attack from the robot and use extra strength to push it back – however, it seems I underestimated how strong my arms became after I reinforced them, because as soon as I push the robot back, the baton it used to attack me shatters, and I subsequently end up slashing the robot severely enough to render it useless.

…

…

I stare at the broken robots and the mess all around me. I hear quiet, irregular footsteps from behind. It is watchman Wonny.

"So you're one of them," he says coolly.

I don't reply. Instead, I just keep staring at a pile of metal and wires – a pile that once used to be fully functioning robots. The fact that I was able to defeat them (and with some help, at that) at all surprises me, and feels almost surreal.

"Say something," the blond haired man demands. I slowly turn around to face him, and in great contrast to what I just did, I pathetically muster out,

"Please don't tell anyone."

* * *

><p>In the end, watchman Wonny agreed to clean up the mess and said that he'd cover for me if the Black Wings were to find out anything. However, he said he would only do it because I helped him ward off the security guard robots.<p>

Right now, I'm walking through the hallways of the Resistance's hideout. It is really late – perhaps around eleven o'clock. After the battle, I decided not to go back to the orphanage, because one, everyone is asleep, therefore no one would be able to help me treat my wounds, and two, there's no first-aid kid that I have access to, so I couldn't treat my wounds by myself even if I wanted to.

I open the door to the plaza of the hideout, and am met with Claudine, along with the other job instructors, staring right at me.

"Um…" I scratch my head, looking around uneasily. "Hi?"

By the looks of the cameras right behind them replaying the battle that happened not too long ago and the critical stares they're giving me, whatever I'm up for tonight is _not _good.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Here's one of the very first official fight scenes. Too bad it had to be with multiple enemies… I think I would've done better if it was a one on one battle, heh.

Anyways, I'm not that experienced when it comes to the ways of writing fight scenes, so if anyone has pointers or anything helpful about them, that'd be really appreciated (actually, at this point, any kind of review/critique is appreciated, lol).

I'm starting to speed things up because as much as I love to have a slow pacing for my story, I don't want it to drag on. So, I hope it didn't seem too rushed.


End file.
